Four Fates Arc 1: Pulled Under
by K.T. Winters
Summary: For what was thought to be an easy mission to Glast Heim turns out to be something horrifyingly different as Azael and his friends end up lost within its dangerous walls. Can they get to safety first before the horrors of the dark get to them?
1. Prologue

_Winter-y notes:_

Woo!! My first fanfic! Absolutely ecstatic right now, considering I had this idea a story for about 3 years now.

This'll be the first part in a series I'm working on, so hold on tight boys and girls, it's gonna be a looooooong ride!

_Disclaimer: _I do not own Ragnarok, Gravity or anything connected to this story minus the plot…even some of the characters aren't mine!

**The Four Fates Arc 1: - **Prologue

It was fall. Leaves blowing in the wind flooded the trails of Prontera with a sea of red, orange and yellow. Frost outlined each grass-blade which melted into dew in the early morning but, for now, everything remained still in the midst of the twilight night. Only two shaped figures lay beside the stream-side of the river, which sung a silent lament of the old, peaceful past of Rune-Midgard.

The younger of the two, a small, young girl with deep violet eyes and shoulder length cobalt hair shifted uneasily beside her partner. Her armour shone dully in the moonlight; her blue attire and her weapons have seen too many blood and battles to stay as well as they were before. The young man, an exact opposite of his female companion, looked at her with a worried expression behind his auburn hair and dark grey eyes.

"What are you thinking about, Nadia?" he asked, "Are you still afraid of the journey to Glast Heim? It's no big deal, I promise." He smiled at her. "I'll be there with you. Every step of the way." Nadia could feel her eyes glaze over with tears.

"I…I'm just scared…" she managed to stammer out before letting her tears fall over her rosy cheek. "Not for me, but for you, Azael" He scoffed at her reply and held her close to him, comforting her, as most friends would do. "Silly girl," he murmured. "There's nothing that will harm me or you. We trained as Crusaders for this reason."

It was true though, what Azael said. Both she and he have been Crusaders together since the day they were born into this world, and have been friends ever since they met.

Recently, they had received orders from the leader of the Higher Order to investigate strange occurrences within the forbidden walls of Glast Heim. Disappearances, possessions and even deaths have befallen anyone unlucky enough to approach the ancient, abandoned city. Many of King Tristan's men have been assigned to investigate and destroy whatever it was that haunted the aged buildings, only to return dead in their comrade's arms or dying by the time they come back from the fruitless search. Many times they never return at all.

However, in that silent night, in the cool sea of red and orange where the moon shines bright upon the innocent two warriors, there was no fear; just another mission to a strange and exciting place where souls long for rest and redemption. It was just another mission.

As Nadia fell asleep in Azael's comforting arms, that's exactly what she thought.

It's just another mission.

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_Preview of Chapter One:_

_Azael and Nadia, given 7 days to prepare their party for the mission head over to the Prontera Sanctuary to speak with an old friend of theirs and convince her to come along with them in their mission to Glast Heim. However, all is not as easy as it seems, as the priestess has never stepped outside of Prontera's stone walls, and negotiations were never really Azael's strong point..._

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Short for the first chapter, ne? Well, this is only the beginning of everything so bear with me folks. Things'll get interesting soon enough, I promise. Stay tuned next week to see the first chapter of The Four Fates Arc!

Remember to Read and Review!!

_Winter-ness, out!_


	2. Negotiations

Blah, I had this all prepared yesterday morning but I forgot, hehe...Well, first chapter is up, I'm pleased with how I'm going along with this, considering my talent as a writer isn't as great as some of the people are here...

Anywho, I got some permission from a couple of friends of mine who also play RO that I can use some of their in-game characters for my story use. Be sure to watch out for them later on in the story. Hope I got the personality and designs right, guys.

**Disclaimer: **I do not, in any way, shape or form, own Ragnarok Online, Gravity or anything else shown here.

Chapter 1: Negotiations

Morning rose without a cloud in the sky the next day as Azael and Nadia walked up the many steps to the Prontera Church. Nadia, as tired as she was from the short sleep last night, trudged along the pews while Azael looked for the priestess in the other rooms. "Leah?" he called out. "Leah!"

There was a rumble of items being dropped in another room, and then there was a scramble of footsteps as Leah ran toward Azael with open arms. The young priestess had flaming red hair and piercing green eyes that stood out beneath her grey-blue dress. She had a warm smile amongst her slightly tanned skin, although she rarely went out much. Leah always claimed that her tanned skin was from her father, who was a crusader during his prime years.

"Azael!" she shouted. "It's so great to see you!" Azael beamed as the red-haired girl squeezed him in her hug and he hugged her back. "Goodness, how long has it been?" she said as she sat down on one of the pews beside Nadia, who was borderline falling asleep. Azael pinched her to keep her awake.

"Too tired to fight, Nadie?" Leah asked. Nadia shook her head, but Leah knew better. "Here, you can sleep on my lap while Azael and I talk. It won't take long, I promise." And she smiled that prize winning, beautiful smile of hers. Nadia frowned. Crusaders are supposed to be strong, able to withstand tyrants and demons that only nightmares can dream up. And here, she can barely stay awake!

Eventually, as Nadia laid her head on Leah's lap, she felt a rush of calmness flow over her as Leah began her healing spell. It was impressive, she had to admit. Nadia was able to learn how to heal as well, from her tutor back at the Legion, but its potency was nowhere near as strong as a priest's heal.

"So, back to business," said Azael. "You got my letter as to why we're here, right?"

Leah thought for a moment. "Yeah, the letter about the journey to Glast Heim, right?" Azael nodded. "It'll be my first time away from the Sanctuary." She chuckled. It wasn't uncommon these days to have a priest travel the country with a group of travellers fighting off evil spirits and whatnot. Leah just preferred to stay back at the Sanctuary and take care of the old church and teach some of the young ones the way of becoming a priest.

Azael sighed. 'This is going to take a lot of negotiating to do,' he thought to himself. Leah wasn't stubborn; but she sure wasn't going to leave her home so easily without some kind of persuasion. "It'll be alright," he said, trying to avoid the fact that the journey might involve death and destruction. "Nothing is going to harm you, I promise. If you want, I'll buy you something nice when we get back." Nadia shifted slightly. He said the same thing to her before!

As if Leah read her mind, she replied calmly, "I'm sure you say the same thing to everyone," looking at Nadia, who was also looking back at her, observing at her response. "But I can't be persuaded that easily. I've lived in this place almost all my life, and I don't want to leave this place knowing that I'll never return."

Nadia, fully rested and healed, sat up.

"You know," she said. "We don't have to ask you to join our party. There are a lot of priests here that are eager to take up a challenge like this." Azael looked up at her, appalled. "If you don't want to go, fine. Maybe we'll ask one of the other, stronger priests to come with us instead." Nadia grinned. "Maybe Isabelle is in town."

That did it. Green eyes glaring at the crusader, Leah immediately stood up and quickly walked to the other room, red hair swishing violently behind her. There was a rustle of clothes and some bottles as she began to stuff everything imaginable into her bag. Nadia and Azael looked at each other, Azael grinning at Nadia, trying to keep the laughter to himself.

Isabelle was one of the greater priests that travel with various knights and sometimes crusaders on missions far too great to go alone. She gained great popularity amongst the Prontera Sanctuary and everyone always wanted her to be on their side. Leah always said she was going to someday beat her to the top, to have the King's acceptance to become a High Priest before Isabelle, but it seemed that Isabelle is winnng the race to Transcendence.

Azael looked at Nadia. She had this up her sleeve all along! "You sly devil," he chuckled. "If she found out that Isabelle is miles away from any type of contact right now, we're in big trouble." Upon hearing this, Nadia grinned.

"That is, IF she finds out." she replied.

The rustling in the other room stopped as Leah came back to the large church room, dragging a large and heavy bag behind her. With a great heave, she thrusted it upon Azael, who nearly toppled at the unexpected heavy load.

"Before we get started," the priestess says, locking her beautiful green eyes with Azael. "You'll have to promise me that we will stop at an inn every night while we're traveling."

Nadia shook her head. "No deal. We can't just stop at an inn every time Miss Priss feels tired." Leah glares at her, but she continues, "This is the outside world with monsters lurking at every corner. Some good some bad. This isn't the Sanctuary." Azael nodded.

"Nadia's right." He said. "There might be some luxuries on our way there, but we can't guarantee an inn every night. You'll just have to make do with what we have."

Leah frowned. "But what if it's raining outside? Or even a thunderstorm?"

"We'll make up a tent to shelter us from the rain."

"What about snow? It can happen, you know."

"Then we'll make a campsite with a big fire in the middle. It's not going to happen, but when the time comes, we'll be ok."

Nadia, getting annoyed of the conversation, spoke up again. "Look," she says. "If you're so reluctant to go, say it. We're wasting time here trying to negotiate with you rather than heading out right now." After a long pause, the young priestess sat down on in the wooden bench and sighed.

"Fine," she says reluctantly. "I'm not happy with the outcome, but I'm honoured to be asked of my help." She smiled.

"So when do we head out?"

Azael gave out a whoop of joy while Nadia smiled. "Let's go right now!" he exclaimed, and lifted up Leah's bag, only to fall backwards as the weight once again took him off guard. "Yeesh, what are you carrying in here? A body?" Nadia tried to lift it up as well, to see how heavy it was. "Man, and I thought my shield was heavy!"

Leah pouted. "It's not a lot..." she said. "It's only some extra clothes and potions."

Azael gawked at the amount of potions stuffed in the heavy brown bag. "There's enough here to make a man drunk!" he exclaimed. "I thought priests abhorred using potions. Why bring them?"

Leah wrinkled her nose in thought. "Well, I've never been outside Prontera's walls before. What if I try to heal someone and I can't for some reason? There's got to be some back up help too."

Nadia stared at the potions in disbelief. "What do you take us for? Some cripple?" she said. "We don't need a lot of potions, and besides, you'll be fine. There's no need for so many things." She looked disapprovingly at the amount of red potions Leah brought. "These things won't be much help for us."

"Ok, new deal," Azael said as he took out some of the red bottles. "You want to come with us, you leave some of the potions behind. If you want to stay and live out your normal life behind High Priest Isabelle, we won't bother you anymore." Azael made sure he said it loud and clear when he said High Priest to Leah. Her weakness was so obvious. Leah frowned as she looked at the bottles.

"But what if—"

"Again with the 'what ifs'!" exclaimed Nadia. "Look, you're not going to get sick from the weather, you're not going to die from walking for a day and you sure as hell aren't going to need that many potions!" Azael furrowed his brows. Nadia's crankier than usual.

"Sorry Leah," Azael said as he took out the bottles. "That's our final offer. Take it or leave it" The young redhead pouted. This was getting to be a bad day today. "Fine." she murmured. Azael smiled and walked up to one of the windows of the church. The sun was already high in the air. He frowned. "Ok Leah, you're lucky today," Azael sighed as he collected his things. "It's already afternoon. We won't be able to do any traveling today so we'll have to get to Morocc tomorrow."

"Morocc?" asked Leah. "I thought we were going to Glast Heim. Isn't Morocc south of here?" Nadia nodded as she began to gather her sword and shield, which lay beside Azael's on one of the pews. "You're not really thinking we're going with just the three of us, are you?" she said with a laugh, but then her face became serious. "Glast Heim is a dangerous place. We'll need all the help we can get, so we'll be heading to Morocc to visit Razus and Mykou there. They're there because of an assignment to reduce the thievery there, but we got permission from the Head Paladin that they've got the OK to take a break." Leah raised an eyebrow. Razus and Mykou were Azael's best friends when they were training to be Crusaders, almost even more inseparable than Nadia is with Azael. The young priestess has met the two crusaders from time to time, on those rare days when they sneak back to Prontera for a well deserved vacation. Great fighters. It'd be nice to have them along.

"Ok, so let me get this straight," Leah said as she looked at one of her blue potions that were decided to be left behind. "So we're heading out to Morocc to get Razus and Mykou tomorrow," The two crusaders nodded. "And then we're heading out to Glast Heim?" they nodded again. "With no stops?"

"Well, that's the plan." Azael said as he began to walk to the large church door. "We can't really say for sure. To be honest, I'm making this up as I go along." He said jokingly as he walked out the door. "Just get some rest now and be ready by early tomorrow morning!" With a laugh, Nadia followed out the door as well, but looked back to Leah first.

Nadia smiled at her and took her hand. "There are a lot of shops open today. Want to go see what's out?" And with a grin, the girls ran out to the streets of Prontera, drinking in the beautiful day, that was full of sunshine and forgetting that they're going to leave the great city with no promise of returning.

After all, a small visit to an old, abandoned, ancient town won't be _that_ bad right?

* * *

_Preview of Chapter 2:_

_Endurance is a must for any Crusader when they go out exterminating evil spirits and whatnot. But with a priestess who's never been anywhere near a poring and a borderline murderous Nadia, Azael's got his work cut out for him as they head out to Morocc to meet their old friends. On top of that, they've lost the map showing the way there. Lost in a forest full of unknown creatures and two moody girls will demand a LOT of endurance. Along with that, it seems that someone - or some__thing is following them..._

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Some notes: 

Leah's Heal - Yeah, I know that there are some people out there that are saying that crusaders and priests heal pretty much the same in-game and they're probably wondering about that... Well, I just think that since crusaders are typically knights that serve God they're more of a fighter than they are a healer so they won't pay attention to healing much as priests do. Plus, stat-wise let's just say Leah's got more INT points than Nadia.

The potions - I don't know about this one, really. I recall the NPC in Alberta saying that you shouldn't drink so much potions or else you become intoxicated or something after he creates a potion for you, so that's why Azael said that somewhere in the story.

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Anyways, that's it for now folks! Be sure to review after reading please! I got really happy that someone reviewed, but it'll be even better if more people reviewed. Plus, I get more excited and I update for often. 

_Winter-ness, out!_

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	3. Fight or Flight

Not that many reviews... Do I suck that badly...?

Anyways, for those who do read this, please remember to read and review in the end. Especially if you want to continue seeing this story.

...oh, and uh, if anyone does review, they get a cookie. )

Chapter two: Fight or Flight

'Bad day to go out today,' thought Nadia as she trudged along the path with Azael and Leah. After a nice and relaxing rest from the night, Leah was finally able to leave her home that she lived in almost all her life with some ease.

Well, some ease.

It was raining buckets outside. Every citizen of Prontera were hiding in their houses, all warm and cozy by the fireplace, while the three had to lay in the fields, taking what little refuge they had under tall trees and makeshift tents.

"This is so uncomfortable," Leah complained as Azael and Nadia set up camp in a small, dry cave. "The water we have is disgusting, the food we have is stale, it's always cold here and the best bed we can have is as hard and cold as stone!"

Azael, trying to stay calm and collected for the sake of the team, handed her his own makeshift pillow to make her comfortable.

"It's not much," he said, "but it's better than sleeping on the floor." He took off his armour and his weapons and settled down for some sleep.

Heading out to Morocc was the last thing on Leah's list that day. Traveling alone with just animals to worry was already difficult as it was, but heading to the city famous for thievery pretty much took the cake.

On top of that, they've lost the map to get to Morocc…

How can anybody handle this!?

"Azael!" Complained Leah again that night. "Can't Razus and Mykou come to us instead of the other way around? They both know the way here."

Azael was already close to falling asleep when the priestess spoke. "It's because the Head Paladin said so," he murmured, hoping to fall asleep again when Leah spoke up again.

"You guys didn't follow the Head Paladin's orders much before."

Azael ignored her comment, still trying to fall asleep, but Leah continued asking questions.

"Can't we just send a messenger to them so that they can come to Prontera instead?"

Sigh...

It was obvious that this night was going to be a long one. And a sleepless one.

Azael sat up, abandoning his plan to sleep for the night. "Well, we did send one once before, but Razus wrote back that Mykou left for some reason." Azael furrowed his brows in thought, as if he was wondering what it was that made his friend leave so suddenly. "We're going there to see if Mykou's still there or if he truly quit as a crusader."

Leah looked down at the small campfire they made, trying not to look at Azael and see his worried face. Without anymore questions, Leah gave back his makeshift pillow and went to sleep next to Nadia.

Azael sighed. Mykou was a good friend of his, along with Razus and Nadia. There was no reason for him to leave on such short notice, so why would he do such a thing? Without even telling him no less!

'Perhaps being a Crusader was too hard for him?' he thought to himself. 'No, Mykou was tougher than that. He loved to fight things and protect people. No, there had to be some other reason for this.'

Now fully awake, Azael studied his surroundings. The cave that sheltered him and the others from the pouring rain outside was small, only big enough to entirely cover Leah and Nadia. Azael sat with his back facing the opening and got the brunt of the rain and wind while the others stayed dry. It was no pain for him; he was trained to endure these types of weather.

'Endurance is a key factor in a crusader's training,' he thought to himself, remembering back to his swords training with Nadia when he was younger. Of course, she wasn't meant to become a crusader at birth like he did. He was much stronger; with strong muscles and tanned skin, he was fit for the fights and training one must take to become a crusader.

Nadia, what with her slightly pale skin and fragile body, was not as physically fit as a normal swordsperson should've been, but she was smart and clever and she had as much attitude and spunk in her as anyone else would have. She could fight with the best of them and hold her own pretty well amongst battles with various enemies. Being a girl was just one of her advantages in battles.

Looking at Leah, who was sleeping soundly, Azael noticed how well she was already beginning to adjust to the outside world. Most people couldn't sleep as well as she did on the first day outside of the Sanctuary. Actually, most people couldn't sleep at all the first few days! Perhaps the young priestess has some potential to be a good traveling healer after all…

Thunder roared outside, startling Azael while the two girls stayed sleeping as if nothing happened. This type of weather isn't really the best weather for traveling, and he worried how the others will take to the rain and wind. Knowing Nadia, she'll be fine with it, but with Leah with them Azael had no idea how the two of them will react.

Trying to ignore the wind and rain, Azael laid down with his back drenched in the rain and stared at the ceiling of the cave for the rest of the night, hoping to get at least some rest.

---

The next day, the sky was clear with not cloud in it. Nadia woke up early, and packed everything into her bag while Leah went out to look for some clean water and maybe some food for the group. There could be some ripe, edible berries somewhere in the forest where they were.

Azael was the last to wake up, and felt the crummiest. Last night could've been one of the worst nights he's had, considering he's barely had a wink of sleep.

Looking around in the small cave, he noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Funny, he was sure he was wearing one when he fell asleep.

"Good morning there, sleepyhead!" called Nadia outside. "Your shirt was soaking wet from the rain yesterday, so I took the liberty of taking it and drying it for you."

Ah, so that's where it's been.

Nadia's had this unique talent of taking things without people noticing until it was too late. Azael's always said that it wasn't a good thing to be proud of, as it was considered stealing and not accepted in the Holy Legion. Still, outside isn't considered as the Legion and, if you have it, flaunt it, right?

Collecting his things and putting on his armour, Azael prepared in his head of what to for the day when suddenly something caught his eye. What was it? Some kind of weapon, no doubt. Nothing natural about a shiny, silver, _sharp_ object hiding behind a tree.

Realizing something was up, Nadia turned around to see whatever it was that Azael was seeing.

There was nothing there. Just rocks and trees.

"Did you see that, Nadia?" asked Azael.

With a confused expression, Nadia shook her head. "Maybe you're getting sick, Azael. Perhaps we should get back to Prontera."

No, there was something there. He was sure of it! Azael quickly got up and ran to the tree where he saw the strange object. He inspected it from top to bottom, but there really was nothing there.

Wait, what was that on the branches of the tree?

Azael reached up and picked the silver object. It was a rosary.

"Strange," said Nadia. "Why would a rosary be left on a branch of a tree?"

Just then, Leah came back with bundles of water at her side. "Hey guys! I found some clean water from the river up ahead. I purified it to make it holy water to make it better for us to drink." Seeing the two's strange expressions, Leah walked up to see what was going on.

"Oh, that's mine." She said as she took the silver cross bracelet from Azael. "I guess it got snagged on the tree without me knowing. Good thing it didn't get lost, though, huh?"

The two, although still confused with the situation, gathered their things and continued walking, hoping that they'll encounter some inn that'll show them where they were and how to get to Morocc.

While they were walking, Azael's mind was contemplating the morning incident. That rosary wasn't the thing that he saw, so what was it that was really there? It can't be some animal, considering animals don't normally have shiny objects like that. Could it be some assassin out to get them? But there's nothing to take minus some food and some worn down weapons and armour.

While Azael was occupied on the occurrence that morning, Leah was making herself known to everything around her.

"Is this what you guys do everyday?" she whined. "My feet are killing me. I wish I bought some comfortable shoes before we left."

Azael, lost in thought, took no notice in her complaints, but Nadia couldn't ignore her as much as he could.

"We get it, princess!" she exclaimed. "You're tired, but don't you think we're all tired right now? There's no use in complaining about it. Just deal with it."

Leah pouted. Nadia shrugged it off. The two girls weren't really getting off to a good start in getting along, and it wasn't helping much that there was something possibly watching them as they were bickering and arguing with each other.

Azael looked around warily, examining the trees to see if there was anything suspicious with them. Nothing so far. Maybe in the bushes? Nope, nothing funny there.

'Maybe I'm just being paranoid,' he thought. 'I didn't get much sleep last night anyways. I'm probably getting worried for nothing.' With that, he settled to continuing on in the dark forest with hopes of looking for help on where it was they were.

Who knows? Maybe whatever it was that was following them was someone who could help them on their journey.

---

They were lost.

Helplessly lost.

Helplessly and hopelessly lost, with no one around to ask for help.

Leah's and Nadia's constant bickering wasn't really much help either. It's surprising how they haven't killed each other by now.

"We've been walking for hours now and there's been no progress at all!" exclaimed Leah.

"What makes you think we're not making any progress at all? We could be close to some kind of shelter now or maybe even close to a village or a town!" retorted Nadia. "Stop acting as if you know everything. It's obvious you don't."

"Or, maybe we're walking farther away from a city or town and closer to our deaths! It'd be best if we just stop and rest for the day today."

"If we rest at the rate you want it, we'll never get anything done!"

"If we don't rest at all and continue to get lost, we won't have enough energy to get anything done!"

"That's what you're here for. Why don't you heal us or something? What, you're too tired to even think of a healing spell? Honestly, I don't understand why I let you in with us."

"If I heal you now, I won't have enough energy to help you if you really are in trouble fighting some monster in these woods!"

"Oh, I'll show you a fight–"

"Enough!" exclaimed Azael. All the arguing was really giving him an unwanted headache. "This is getting out of hand. Stop it with your squabbling before I'll have to tape your mouths shut to get some peace here!" He looked at Nadia, who was smirking at his attempt to keep her quiet.

"For you, Nadia, I'm binding your hands too."

The two girls then fell silent, and Nadia pouted, and they continued with their traveling into the forest in silence.

Just then, a flash of light caught Azael's eye to his left. He quickly looked back at Nadia, who saw the light as well. They weren't alone in the forest.

Azael slowly positioned his pack on his back, ready to run or to fight, but not too quickly to make whatever it was following them nervous and attack first. Whatever the case will call for, he'll be ready. Looking back at Nadia again, he saw that she was readying for the fight as well, protecting Leah with her shield and her sword out, ready to fight.

Azael shook his head. No, there won't be a fight this time. Nadia understood immediately, putting her sword and shield away, she held Leah's hand and waited for his signal to run.

Looking around in the forest again, Azael took in his surroundings. Yes, there were lots of trees to hide in, but there were also lots of trees for the enemy to hide in as well.

How about running to the river? No, it would expose the group and it might hurt them even more. Well, where else can they go? No where…Perhaps it would be best to stand and fight.

'No, they have the element of surprise and we don't know who they are' he thought as he slowed his walk to a stop. 'Oh, forget it. Let's just wing it and hope that God is on our side.'

Looking back at Nadia and Leah, Azael looked to his left, and then his right. No flash of light yet. Maybe they left? No, there it was again!

At an instant, Azael bounded blindly into the forest at full speed, not even thinking of looking behind him. He could hear clearly from Leah's shouts of terror that Nadia wasn't far behind.

The forest was a whir of green and brown as he fled as fast as he could from the unknown enemy, dodging branches and winding through trees as well as he could without letting the branches hit Nadia or Leah behind him.

The flash of light was getting closer and clearer now. Panicking, Azael swerved to his left, but the light was too fast. It was following his every move without even flinching. Was it really an assassin out to kill him after all? Never in his life has he seen this much speed and agility before.

The light's following him, hunting him, and ignoring the girls behind him. No, it was he that the light wanted.

He turned to his right to try and lose the light, blindly swerving and dodging things now without even thinking of helping Nadia or Leah. It was already obvious from the start that it was him the light wanted. Nadia and Leah won't get in the way of that.

"Azael!" shouted Nadia, but he didn't hear. He was too busy trying to stay as far away from the light as he can. So much so, that he didn't seem to even notice the cliff up ahead.

In a split second, time seemed to slow down as if it would last for an eternity. Then, in another split second, time seems to fly by so fast that everything was a complete blur.

In an instant, he knew he was falling off the steep cliff. The fear of whatever was chasing him was quickly replaced with the fear of instant death after the long fall. Azael closed his eyes. He knew that this was it. Running for safety from whatever was pursuing him consequently led to his death fall. There's nothing left to do but pray for help.

Just then, Azael realized that he wasn't falling at all. Slowly peeking out of one eye to be sure, he was correct. Far below him was the ground, which seemed like an eternity to reach. But how come he wasn't coming nearer to it?

Looking up, he saw a hand holding onto his arm. It looked like a very strong hand, but not one that was familiar to him. Could it be the stranger that was following him, or someone else?

Nadia? No, her hand was much paler than this one. Leah? No, she wouldn't have the strength to hang onto him. Who could this be?

There wasn't time to question the situation at the moment. Azael was just inches away from his death drop, and he did not want to continue hanging over the cliff-side any longer.

"Pull me up!" he shouted almost hysterically.

"Hang on tight," said a voice. It was a deep voice. A man's voice.

Suddenly, Azael felt the ground. Sweet, sturdy ground. Looking up at his rescuer, he saw Nadia right behind him, grinning, while Leah quickly ran over to Azael, happy to see that he was ok.

The man wore a long, white and brown sleeveless coat with no shirt underneath, revealing his well toned muscles and dark tanned skin. He held a silver rosary similar to Azael's on his left arm, which rippled with muscles. It seemed obvious this man was some kind of holy man, judging from the rosary.

The silver rosary glistened brightly in the sunlight, but not as brightly as the steel knuckles the man wore on his right hand. Every sharp point shone like silver, and it caught almost every light emitted from the sun, almost as if it was the moving sun itself.

"Hey there, lazy." The man said.

Awestruck from the glistening weapon, Azael was surprised to hear the stranger speak.

Looking up at the face of his rescuer, he saw that he had rusty red hair which was slightly messy from the running, and some strands of hair stuck to his face from the sweat on his forehead. His eyes burned like fire in his auburn eyes, almost like an animal's. His features were sharp, but to Azael and the others, he seemed to have a warm welcome to him.

He was grinning at Azael, who grinned back. Leah smiled at the man, while Nadia grinned even more at the whole situation. As he stood up, Azael greeted the man with a great hug.

"Hey there, Mykou."

* * *

_Preview of Chapter 3:_

_Finding the way to Morocc with Mykou leading the way, everything is finally looking up. The girls have stopped fighting, Azael gets another friend to practise his fighting techiniques with, and they're 2 days ahead of schedule, which means a couple days of partying before the big event. And what better way to do so by hanging out with a couple of fortune-telling gypsies and musical bards? Of course, some fortunes can be worse than others..._

* * *

Ugh, my computer's not working right again...Sorry for the long update, guys. I tried my best to get this out as soon as possible. Of course, with a sick computer, I couldn't do much. 

Well, chapter 2's finally up and hopefully chapter 3 willl be posted sometime this week, so keep a look out guys. I know right now it's a bit...bland...but things will get sinister and dark soon, I promise. )

oh, and uh, FYI, Mykou's pronounced almost exactly like Michael...Just figured you needed to know that. )

_Winter-ness, out!_


	4. Cursed Fortunes

Finally, the next chapter...not much to say right now except read and enjoy! Oh, and then review:) 

_Disclaimer: _I do not own Ragnarok, Gravity, or anything associated with it...except maybe plot and some characters.

Chapter 3: Cursed Fortunes

"Dude, is that really you?!" exclaimed Azael. It has been a long time since he's seen his long time friend, and seeing him with such a different look definitely gave him much to catch up on.

"The one and only," grinned Mykou.

"Wow, so you're really a monk now?" asked Nadia. She was as surprised as Azael was at their friend's new change of jobs. And, having him around seemed to calm her and Leah for the moment.

"Yup, I'm truly a monk now," replied Mykou. "I figured being a crusader wasn't really my true calling. Sorry for not telling you guys."

Azael was much too excited to be mad at his friend and forgot the previous chase incident and forgave everything without any hesitation.

Until, of course, Leah brought it up.

"So why didn't you just come up and talk to us?" she asked. "There was really no need to stalk us like that. You kind of gave us a bit of a scare there."

"Well, I was kind of hoping to tell you when I saw you, but I wanted to make it a surprise." The young monk smirked. "Come out with a bang, you know?"

"Could've fooled me." Nadia chuckled.

Everyone was glad to have their friend in the group, and they walked happily behind their new monk as he led the way to the desert city of Morocc. Of course, he had other plans rather than impatiently walking there. 

"Azael," he sighed. "Doesn't the priestess there know anything of warping people? This walking thing is beginning to kill me already." He smiled as he could feel the piercing glare from Leah behind him.

Just then, he pulled out a small blue gem no bigger than his thumb and placed it on the ground. The gem pulsed with light, almost as if it was going to burst with energy. With a smirk, he placed his index finger on the small gem, causing it to pulse even more.

The gem began to dissolve until there was nothing left but the pulsing light. "Warp portal," Mykou murmured. "Morocc." And the light began to ripple into the ground, leaving a large column of bright light in the middle. Everyone was surprised at Mykou's new skill that he learned as a monk.

There was just an awed silence as they stared at the rippling portal in the ground until he spoke.

"Well?" he said after a while. "This portal won't last long. Get in!" it was obvious he was getting impatient, but no one wanted to get in. This strange portal looked frightening, even though the light seemed welcoming.

"Oh, come on, princesses!" exclaimed Mykou before pushing Azael into the blinding light headfirst.

Suddenly, it was almost as if everything and everyone was forgotten. When Azael fell into the portal, he couldn't even remember who he was or what he was doing. All he saw was nothing but light. He was even too surprised to scream.

Just then, his memories came flooding back to him and everything came back into view. The blinding light faded and it was replaced by the blue sky and some small, dusty buildings.

And sand.

Lots and lots of sand.

It wasn't until a few seconds later that Azael realized that the portal actually warped him to Morocc. There was a blast of dry, hot air that engulfed Azael's whole body, seeping in through every pore of his skin, every crack of his armour. It took a few seconds before he was able to get a grip on his surroundings.

It also took a few seconds after that when he also felt a heavy body fall on him.

Then another.

And then another.

"Well, that could've been better," said the monk who was on top of the body pile. "At least you guys were there to cover my fall."

"Yeah, you're welcome," gasped Nadia, who was wedged between Leah and Azael, who was at the very bottom of the pile.

It took a few minutes before they were all able to recover from the sudden spell and change of scenery. The wind was extremely dry here, and there was barely any shade from the sun that was beating down on them.

Just then, Leah spotted a flash of metal armour and blue clothing that looked very familiar to her heading towards them.

"Hey, isn't that Razus?" she said excitedly.

In less than a moment's time, he was greeting the group with a joyous smile.

"Welcome to the desert city, my friends!" Razus exclaimed.

Razus was tanned almost as much as Mykou was, considering he's been living in Morocc for almost 5 years as a crusader protecting the people there, but he was much more slender than his other companion. He had short black hair that covered a part of his eyes, which were a deep brown colour.

His armour was a darker colour than the other group members of the party. While Azael and Nadia's clothing was a solid blue in colour, Razus's clothes were a darker, navy blue and his old, worn out armour a fading bronze colour next to Azael's and Nadia's pale yellow armour.

He was also the oldest out of the group, and obviously the highest ranking, but the playful look in his eyes showed that he was still young and carefree at heart.

"Hey, Razus!" shouted Nadia as she saw him walking towards them.

The great crusader greeted them all with a smile, especially when he saw his old partner again.

"Greetings, Mykou," he said. "It has been long since I've seen you. Have you changed at all?" both men chuckled. It seemed as if nothing has changed in their weeks of absence.

The great city of Morocc, famously known as the thieving city, was full of bustling merchants, eager to sell their wares, although shifty from some wandering eyes of young thieves and various rogues disguising themselves as normal citizens.

As Leah watched carefully around in the streets of the city, she saw that many of the people wore ripped, dirty clothes with no shoes to walk in. She could've felt sorry for them if it wasn't for the fact that the city was so consumed by greed and other sins that she couldn't trust the deceitful eyes of the poor, hungry-looking citizens.

The sun was uncaring here than it was in Prontera. Its kind rays of light burned on the dark skin of the citizens, creeping through every crack it can pass in houses and every rip from the fabric shelters of a merchant's store. It was relentless here, unforgiving and punishing to the thieves that reside in the desert city. It was almost as if Morocc itself was merely an illusion of sand and dust from the desert.

The air was as dry as the ground that the group walked on. There was almost no water here. The lack of it was taunting to everyone that stood for even a second in the baking sun. Everyone had a hard time breathing under the desert sun; even Razus, who lived in Morocc for almost five years.

But as the group walked to the center of the city, it was like an oasis. As Azael and the others were led to it, he saw an amazing difference from the other buildings.

Pure, clean water surrounded every side of a large building with domed shape roofs and magnificent trees. It was like a palace of its own kind; a mirage in the midst of the poor town. Within its 10 inch think walls was like heaven; marble floors, a fountain of crystal clear water and the atmosphere was crisp, cool and refreshing, almost like walking out of a nice bath.

"Welcome, my friends," Razus said. "To the southern Crusader headquarters. We share this building with the knights of Prontera as well, but we hold more authority of the place since we tend to the messes here than the knights do."

No one listened to a word of what Razus said. They were in awe of the sights of the great building. It literally was like an oasis in the desert, with such grand luxuries and comforts. It almost seemed fitting for the King rather than just the crusaders!

"So, after you guys stop staring at our home," said Mykou after a long pause. "We'll discuss of the mission to Glast Heim in the main room. Preferably sometime this week, please." With that, he disappeared into one of the many rooms of the building; probably for a long awaited rest before the meeting.

Of course, that still left Azael, Nadia and Leah in a building of many rooms with no guide whatsoever in the new city. Oh, wait, there's…

"Helloooo," said Razus with a smile, which broke the silence. Well, at least it's better than nothing. Razus wasn't really known for being a good guide, especially since he doesn't know how to make a Warp Portal like his partner.

Upon seeing the group's confused expressions, Razus chuckled.

"Don't worry guys," he said. "You guys came two days ahead of schedule. We have lots of time to discuss the mission. For now, just enjoy the sights of Morocc." He then led the group through a hallway in the western wing of the palace-like building and showed them their individual rooms.

"Don't worry about any unwanted people sneaking into the rooms." Said Razus. "We have our security upped here more than anywhere else in the place." With a nod, he left just like his partner, leaving the three on their own for the next couple of days. Azael and Nadia went to their separate rooms, as did Leah.

Alone in her first comfortable room since the Sanctuary church in Prontera, Leah looked around in her large, empty room.

"Well, this is a…nice place," she murmured to herself.

The room was large with one bed placed in the middle. It was exquisitely detailed with richly coloured carpets and a large desk placed on the right wall. Various exotic plants occupied the corners of room, and thin curtains covered the large balcony the faced the large desert city in all its grand majesty.

"Yeah, very beautiful," said the young priestess sarcastically as she walked towards the balcony. Just then she saw a couple of rogues robbing an innocent young woman. With a sigh, she raised her right hand.

"Kyrie Eleison," she murmured, and her hand glowed with a small light before disappearing and flew to the young woman in a fraction of a second. The two rogues were caught aback from the sudden spell and hurriedly ran, suspecting that they were being watched.

The woman, surprised at the strange, invisible shield that protected her from the rogues, quickly gathered her things and ran home, not even trying to push her luck.

Leah sighed. 'This place is so full of sin,' she thought. 'Even with authoritative figures, this city's still committing crimes.'

Tired of seeing the scum in the city over and over again, Leah left her place in the balcony and went exploring in her new room. Just then she heard a light knock in her door. It was Nadia.

"Hey there," she said quietly.

"Hey," replied Leah. "What are you doing here?"

Nadia slowly walked to the edge of the bed and sat there as Leah watched carefully. "Just coming in to check on you, that's all." Said the young crusader.

"I'm fine," Leah said with a small nod.

There was silence before the priestess spoke again.

"Look," she said, sitting herself beside Nadia. "I'm really sorry for being so…annoying on our way here."

'Huh, annoying is putting it lightly.' Thought Nadia.

"But…I really mean well, honest. It's just that it's been a really tough time for me since I've never been this far away from home. I've only ever read of such stories of places like these…places of sin and ignorance."

They both glanced out at the balcony overlooking the city. Evening was setting in soon, and the sun was losing its strength as the air began to cool down.

"Once again, I'm sorry. Truly I am." Leah said with a sigh. There was a long silence. Leah leaned her head on Nadia's, hoping that the crusader wasn't resenting her as much as she was before.

"You're forgiven." She smiled. "I mean, it's understandable. It was hard for me the first few days too. But just don't expect sympathy from me, remember that."

Both girls smiled at their little truce when there was a knock on the door.

It was Razus, accompanied with Mykou and Azael. They were all grinning.

"Guess what?" said Azael excitedly. "There's this annual festival here that lasts for about a week celebrating the new traveling performers from Comodo." Upon seeing the blank faces of the two girls, Azael couldn't contain his excitement.

"Do you know what this means?!"

Both girls shook their heads. Razus and Mykou laughed.

"Par-tay!" they exclaimed. "Hot dancers, loud music and all the best exotic wares ever!"

Azael was grinning like a 4 year old in a candy store. "This is the BEST short break I've ever had!" he shouted as he sped out the room, not even thinking of waiting for the others.

Mykou chuckled. "Best break he's ever had? Try having it for four years and see how well he'll do then." He grinned at Razus. "So many girls can be easily attracted if you have the right equipment."

Razus laughed. "It also helps if you have a lot of money in your pockets." He said as he began to walk out the door, probably to follow Azael to the festival.

Mykou gawked at the comment. "Money?! Why would anyone need money when they can have this hot bod to fawn over?" he shouted as he walked out the door as well.

The two girls, still speechless from what just happened, remained sitting at the edge of Leah's bed, staring at the door.

"How disgusting," said Leah as she walked up to the balcony. "Just when I thought this city couldn't get any more sinful, this…festival comes along."

Nadia walked up to Leah, looking out on the city as well. The air was getting very much cooler than before, and the sky turned to a magnificent array of pink and red coloured hues. The sun, losing its power in the fading daylight, silhouetted every figure in front of the two girls, outlining the great city with black domed buildings and other small, dusty black buildings.

Away in the farther streets of Morocc there were faint music playing and dim lights that seemed to reflect the same red and pink colours of the sky. Small tents dappled the streets which were full of people watching various performances and dancers and bards singing and dancing along with the tunes.

Nadia looked at Leah, who seemed to be seething with anger. "Those boys are holy men." She said, teeth gritting. "They should not go there except to watch out for thieves and assassins."

Nadia sighed. Leah can be too high strung sometimes when it comes to certain subjects. "True," she said after a while. "But we are only human, Leah. They're only out there to have some fun that they've never had in a long time since they've been together."

She grabbed Leah's wrist and heading for the door, weaving around quickly in the hallways before Leah had even enough time to think of what the blue haired girl was going to do.

Until, of course, they were out on the dusty streets of the city.

"N-no!" the priestess said suddenly, yanking her hand away from Nadia's. "I will not go to that…that sinful cesspool!"

Nadia looked at her. "So you don't want to go to the festival?"

Leah nodded.

"You don't want to go listening to music and watching performances?"

Leah shook her head. "Such songs aren't fitting to listen to."

"You don't even want to go hear your fortune told?"

"Nope."

"Not even to go look at the pretty jewels and gemstones you can buy there?"

There was a long pause. "N…nope."

Nadia smiled. "Fine then." She said. "Then you can stay here at the empty, guard-less building while I and the others go out to have some fun." With that, the crusader ran off, heading straight for the glimmering lights and festive music, leaving Leah alone at the front of the grand building.

Leah stood there in silence, surprised that Nadia didn't even try to force her to go to the festival. 'Perhaps she finally decided to give up arguing with me,' the priestess thought, remembering the little truce the girls had in her room shortly before.

Looking up at the sky, Leah could see that the red and pink hues were beginning to fade, and little dots of light began to speckle the dark veil of night. The large, palace-like building with its cream coloured walls was beginning to look almost haunting in the darkening night.

Walking inside, Leah was already starting to feel lonely. Her sandals made a slight clack-clacking sound as it hit the hard marble floors which then echoed throughout the whole building until it faded.

There was no light in the building; it was as dark as it was outside, if not darker. Leah whimpered quietly. This place was even quieter than her Sanctuary back home. At least at home, she had Father Gabriel to confide in her fears, but this place…there was no one. No one at all.

'Perhaps going to the festival won't be that bad.' She thought to herself. 'I…I can consider it as a test to my faith. Yeah, this is just a test to my abilities.' With that quick conclusion, Leah ran out of the empty building, heading straight for the festival without hesitation.

Meanwhile, at the festival, Azael was having the time of his life. There were many bards playing various different types of music, and not far away from them was a young dancer or two dancing along with the sound of the music. There was something mesmerizing about the dancers that the young crusader could not look away from them.

In appearances, they all looked different from the last. One could've had light coloured skin with short blond hair while the other could've had dark skin with ebony black hair. But their eyes…those glittering eyes sparkled with a mysterious desire that Azael had never seen before.

So…seducing.

In the midst of watching a couple of bards and dancers performing, Azael could hear a distant call of someone calling out his name. Looking around, he spotted Nadia, who waved at him.

"Hey there, Nadie!" he said as he waved back. "Where's Leah?"

Nadia took a slight pause. "Leah decided to—"

Almost as if on cue, Leah appeared behind Azael, smiling weakly.

"I, uhm, came to help those that were being misguided?" she said meekly as she latched onto his arm.

Azael laughed greatly. "It doesn't matter if even if you came because you're bored! We're all here now, so let's just go out and have some fun!"

Leah winced. Azael really hit that one on the head. But no matter, as long as she had him to protect her, she was content. There was no way she was going to let go from Azael's hand until they got back to the building in one piece.

Until she spotted a bard selling some pretty gems for a low price.

"Oh, such beautiful wares!" she exclaimed, immediately running over to the smiling bard, still clutching Azael's arm tightly.

Nadia laughed as Azael was being dragged by the red-haired girl, but then realized that she was now alone in the festival, so she decided to go around and look at the sights that were there.

The lights flashed brilliantly in the now dark night sky. The cool air surrounded the city, refreshing those who have been working away under the beating sun since morning. There was music playing in the background, but it was drowned by the many voices of the citizens and travelers that were enjoying themselves in the event.

Along with the dancers and bards that were performing under the night sky, there were many merchants selling their products in the crowds and young mages doing magic shows under tents or alongside the performers.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves with the performances, but that wasn't what caught Nadia's eye.

Near the edge of the festival, where there were more of the rogue blacksmiths selling their weapons and older bards telling stories and legends of Rune Midgard's past, there was a medium sized tent with mystical words outlining the entrances.

Nadia peeked inside to see if there was anyone who resided in the strange tent. Inside dimly lit tent, it smelled heavily of burning incense and perfume. The edges of the tent were covered with throw pillows, while even larger pillows and cushions covered the sandy floor beneath it.

In the middle of the tent, there was a small table with various mystical cards and other items. Behind the table was a woman wearing a long red silk robe that covered her head and all of her body. There were strands of frizzy black hair that strayed from the tight bun that the woman held it in. Amongst the crimson coloured robe, there were various precious jewels of different colours and gold bracelets that glittered brightly along her dark, tanned skin.

Nadia, embarrassed at intruding at the woman's tent, quickly wanted to apologize when the woman spoke up.

"Have you come to have your fortune told?" the woman said. Her heavy accent was something Nadia had never heard of before. It was obvious that she was from some foreign place.

Chuckling quietly to herself, Nadia went inside and sat herself down on one of the cushions in front of the woman. She never really believed in fortune-telling and voodoo, but in the good fun of the night, she might as well take a crack at knowing what her future was.

The woman herself had a strange aura around her, as if she was, or still is, stronger than Nadia herself. Her piercing jade eyes stared calmly at her, almost as if she was waiting for something to happen.

A few seconds passed when Nadia decided that the woman was a lunatic and thought that maybe she should've left when she had the chance.

"Sorry, I think I hear my friends calling me," She said, trying to think of a good way to get out of the place without being rude. "Perhaps I should—"

"You do not believe me," said the woman calmly.

"What?"

"You do not believe in predicting someone's future, do you?" the woman's heavy accent seemed to be fading, almost as if it was just an act.

"Well –"

"No matter. Once you are done here, you will believe in fortune-telling."

Nadia scoffed. What kind of idiot does this woman take her for?

Leaning in closer to the small table that sat in the tent, the woman put out her hands onto the table, with her palm facing up. Looking at Nadia with her sharp jade eyes, she said, "Put out your hands like this. Like mine."

Nadia did as she was told. Just then, she felt the cold hands of the woman. Astonished at how cold the woman's hands were, Nadia gasped a little.

"Surprised at how cold my hands are, aren't you?"

Shyly, Nadia nodded. The woman laughed deeply. "That's because you've never seen a transcendent Gypsy before, have you?"

This fact shocked Nadia. Those who've ever transcended to a higher power were because they were granted so through the king. Certain jobs such as knight and priests could easily obtain the title of Lord Knight or High Priest as they were easily accepted by the king. But…outside of the kingdom, it was almost impossible to transcend.

What is this woman?!

"You seem surprised." Said the gypsy woman. "Yes, I have transcended, but not in the way such ignorant people like you know it as. I was met by the Valkyrie herself. I'm neither living nor dead, thus my skin remains as cold as when I've died, yet I breathe along with the living."

Nadia was too stunned to speak after that comment. To reach at such a high level that this woman was met by the Valkyrie herself was almost impossible! How can she reach such power?

"Have you come here to talk about my life, or have we come here to talk about your future?" said the woman impatiently. It took some time before Nadia was able to recover herself from hearing what she heard, but after a while, she nodded and continued with the fortune-telling.

The woman closed her eyes while still tightly gripping onto Nadia's hands. The small candles that lit the tent flickered violently, even though there was no small breeze that Nadia felt. The gypsy woman murmured a couple of words, while Nadia shivered at the sudden change in temperature in the tent. What seemed like it was so hot before now felt like it was icy cold like her hands.

The candles continued to flicker in the tent, if not more than before. Nadia was beginning to wonder what was going on, if what the woman saying that she was a gypsy was true. If it was, then perhaps the fortune-telling isn't a lie either.

Suddenly, Nadia noticed that everything was silent. The woman stopped her murmuring, and it seemed like the music that was playing outside has stopped as well, but the candles still continued to flicker amidst the silence. The gypsy remained still, her cold hands holding onto Nadia's, her eyes closed.

It almost seemed as if time literally stopped.

Just then, the woman let out a huge gasp, as if she was underwater for a long time and this was the first breath of air she's had. The flickering candles finally stopped flickering, and continued on their slow burning as if nothing happened. The woman quickly let go of Nadia's hands, as if they were on fire themselves.

"W-what happened?" asked Nadia, almost scared of what the woman will say.

The woman, still gasping in air, looked at Nadia with a frightened expression. Her jade eyes had the look of fear in them. Nadia was beginning to dread of hearing her future.

"My child," the woman whispered, clutching her chest to calm herself. "I have seen your future."

Nadia was beginning to worry for the woman's health as she continued to pant heavily for her breath.

"Your future…"she said. "I saw…a young man…with…with auburn hair."

'That's Azael!' thought Nadia.

"What happened to him?" she said, grabbing onto the woman's robes. "What happened to Azael?!"

"No…" whispered the woman. "What…will happen to him…I do not know…this is your future I seek, no one else's."

The anticipation was killing her. "Then what will happen to me?" exclaimed Nadia. "What will happen to me and what will happen to Azael? Tell me!"

The woman looked up at Nadia, staring directly at Nadia's violet eyes. There was fear in both of their eyes. It was then that Nadia realized what was going on.

"Y-you mean…?" Nadia said quietly while slowly letting go of the woman's robes.

"Yes," said the woman, who was finally able to catch her breath. "In your future, I saw…"

No. She had to get out of the place as soon as possible. She had to go far away from the gypsy woman's tent. She didn't want to hear her future anymore. As much as she thought before that such things was nothing but lies, this woman seemed to truly know what was going to happen to her. She had to get out of that tent as soon as possible.

But with all her strength, she just couldn't move. She just stood there, staring at the woman in the candlelit tent that smelled of burning incense and perfume, almost hoping that the woman was going to say something different, not what Nadia dreaded.

But it wasn't going to happen. Her future was set. There were no lies from the woman as she told Nadia what she saw.

"I saw death."

* * *

_Preview of Chapter 4:_

_Knowing now she will experience death in some form, Nadia's fears have doubled since her insecurity at the beginning of the mission. And, as the time to reach to Glast Heim edges closer, Nadia starts to have second thoughts on going to the abandoned city. Plus, seeing Azael in her future as well, something might happen to him too..._

_"Azael...I'm afraid...for you..."_

* * *

Finally, this chapter's up! Gods, it took a long time, didn't it? Heehee...

Some notes:

Warp Portal: Yeah, I just found that saying "Warp Portal!" and having a portal appear wasn't as exciting as some people think...makes it feel too .hack//SIGN, eh? Gamey, but this is set in an Alternate Universe, so it should be more interesting...

Mykou's job: Yeah, uhm...Let's just say that in here, there are certain jobs in which you can quit and start anew, yeah? Note, CERTAIN jobs...not all (foreshadowing...)

Transcendent: Yeah, I know you guys are thinking it...well, let's just say that there's three different ways to transcend, yesh? Like, for example, an Assassin, who's considered as a free stander doesn't follow under the rules of the king; he follows his own rules, to him, such rules can be made and broken as he wishes, thus, if he wants to consider himself an Assassin Cross, no one will deny him to do so. This does, however, causes the Assassin to be much weaker than most transcendent. Those who do follow under the king, such as knights, are granted permission to do so once they reach a certain level of power (or...level 99 in-game) so they are stronger than self-titled assassins, but not as strong as others. Now, there will be those who refuse to obey the king's grant to transcend and aren't self-titled, but are truly meant to be as strong as gods. Those people, regardless of class, reach transcendence by the Valkyrie. That's pretty much explanatory there...they are the strongest of their kinds, they must die in order to be reborn, but they are almost equal to gods, so they aren't living mortals anymore, so they are neither living nor dead.

Gypsy: So I tweaked her clothing to make it less revealing...so what? (Hides in bomb shelter) Oh yeah, and she was also considered as level 99, which explains that "weird aura" Nadia sensed.

* * *

Well, that's all for now, folks! Be sure to read and review and stay tuned for the next chapter! It only gets interesting from here on out, boys and girls!!

_Winter-ness, out!!_


	5. Preparations

Finally, the next chapter's up...ugh, I'm so stuffed from everything else these days, so sorry that I couldn't update sooner. Blame school and the government, man...It's always their fault...

Enough with the chit chat, let's get on with the story!!

_Disclaimer: I do not own RO, gravity or anything else associated with them. Wish I did, though..._

Chapter 4: Preparations

The candles of the tent burned silently as Nadia stared at the gypsy woman with frightful eyes.

"N-no," Nadia whispered. "No, there must be some mistake…"

She couldn't believe what she heard. No, there was no way she could die. Not yet.

But the gypsy shook her head.

"My predictions are never wrong, child." She said. "You will see death sometime in the near future…in the very near future."

'Does that mean…?' thought Nadia. 'No, this is all just some crock played by some old woman. They always play the death card to freak people out so that they'll come back for more predictions.'

Looking at the heavily robed woman, Nadia rose up to her feet, still slightly shaken from the gypsy's words.

"Look, I don't know what you're scheming," she said. "But I won't fall for it, whatever it is. Good bye to you." With that, she stormed out of the tent, not even thinking of looking back at the woman.

Trying her best to forget that woman's words, Nadia visited every merchant's tent and listened to the music that the bards at the center of the festival were playing. She ate dish after dish of food she saw in every vendor, and bought various gems of every kind, along with useless cloths and other wares there. By the end of the festival, when everyone was beginning to leave for the night, Nadia nearly had no more money left.

Looking up at the night sky, Nadia sighed. The haunting voice of that gypsy woman was still echoing in her head.

"_I saw death in your future…"_

Those words echoed over and over again in her head, without ever stopping, even when she distracted herself with games, music and food.

Sitting down in an empty bench outside the festival, Nadia tried to once again forget those woman's words by looking around at the festival.

There weren't many people now, and the music was beginning to die down as the bards and dancers cleaned up for some sleep for the day ahead. The lights still flashed and glimmered brightly, if not even brighter than before now that there wasn't a big crowd blocking their sparkling light. It was almost as if the stars came down to play on their own now that there wasn't many people to disturb them.

It would've looked so beautiful if Nadia paid any attention. Her mind was still preoccupied with the woman's words.

Just then, she heard a familiar voice. It was Razus.

"Hey there, Nadia," he said. "We've been looking all over for you. Well, only me, actually. Azael and the others are at the headquarters right now."

Nadia tried to force a smile, but said nothing. Razus frowned. He could tell something was troubling her.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, nothing." Murmured Nadia as she stood up. "Come, we should get to the headquarters now. I don't want the others to wait for me."

It was then that Razus knew that something _was_ wrong. But he said nothing. It'd be best to not say anything. Not yet.

The two walked in silence underneath the cool night. Outside the bright lights of the festival, everything was pitch black minus the dapples of stars above. There was no moon shining above that night.

Either way, they both were able to navigate through the winding paths around buildings and tents easily. Razus knew the streets of Morocc like the back of his hand.

"So…" said Razus after a while. "Now will you tell me what's wrong?"

Nadia hesitated before she answered. "No, there's nothing wrong."

"You're lying."

"As if you'd know…"

"I would, actually. It's not like the thieves here would tell the truth when you catch them. Not even when you caught them red-handed."

Nadia sighed. Perhaps it would be best to tell someone rather than keep it secret.

"Ok," she said. "But promise you won't tell anyone. Especially Azael."

"Crusader's honour."

It was then that Nadia told him everything that happened in the gypsy's tent that night, and the prediction of her future. She left out the fact that she saw Azael in her prediction, though. She didn't want him to be spooked about it like she was.

Razus listened intently on Nadia's story. He could tell that Nadia was afraid that the prediction could be true. It was too dark to see her expression, but from the sound of her voice, she was truly afraid.

"Hmm," he said after a while. "I'm sure that it's not as bad as you think it'll be."

Nadia was surprised at Razus' reply.

"How can it not be as bad as it is?!" she shouted. "I might die. No, I'm _going _to die!"

Razus shook his head. "No, you said that the gypsy woman said that she saw death, am I correct?"

Nadia nodded.

"Well, that prediction is pretty vague. It's true that while there may be a chance that…someone," Razus tried his best not to say Nadia's name. "…Might die, but that doesn't mean that they _will _die. She only said that she saw death. And, considering that we're going to Glast Heim, she probably saw a soul that already died there. We'll probably see them or something."

Upon hearing this, Nadia thought back to what the woman said, trying to see if there really was a loophole to what she said. She really did only say she saw death, not that she was going to die.

"Well, I suppose you're right," ponder Nadia. "But what if something really does happen? I don't want anyone to end up hurt because of me."

Razus chuckled. He was so relaxed, even in situations like this. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll stay by your side all the way. Me, Azael, Mykou and Leah. We'll all be right beside you, so don't worry about anything."

Nadia was still worried, but she smiled a bit to make Razus happy. Even if he couldn't see her fake smile in the dark, she knew he'll be happy if she forgot about the ordeal.

In a few minutes, the two crusaders were back to the headquarters. The building was fully lit, which temporarily blinded Razus and Nadia who got used to the dark outside. They both walked to the middle of the great palace-like building.

The main room was by far the largest room of the whole place. The walls of the large room were filled with many shelves and bookcases of books of every kind, mostly on the history of Morocc, or of legendary assassins and rogues.

In the middle of the room, there was a large, rectangular table with chairs at every side of it. There were two larger, more furnished chairs at the end of the table, which were reserved for the head knight and crusader. Far behind crusader's end of the table, there was a large blue and silver dragon statue, and at the knight's end, there was a gold and red dragon positioned the same way as its counterpart. The stairs leading up to the second floor wound around the two dragon's wings. They both stood with such grace and power that they looked like they were captured and changed into stone while they were guarding something behind them. Nadia couldn't help but stare at the statues in amazement.

"They're amazing, aren't they?" murmured Razus. "They are the oldest monuments of Morocc. Been here when the first Assassin cross came and dominated Morocc for nearly 3 decades. He demanded these statues be made in his name."

Razus chuckled lightly and went to sit down at the head crusader's chair. "And now we've taken it for ourselves. As if we've stolen it from him. Ironic, isn't it? We're here to stop the stealing and yet here we've stolen Morocc's most precious treasure."

Nadia looked around. There were so many books in the room that it almost seemed to rival that of the Sage Academy's library. But there seemed to be something missing…

"Where are Azael and the others?" she asked.

Razus looked around as well. "Hmm, guess they didn't come yet."

Just then they heard a voice high up in the second floor.

"No, I'm here," It was Azael.

"Hey Azael!" called Nadia. He was far across the big room and it was hard to hear him, so it must've been hard for him to hear her as well.

Azael ran downstairs to the large table and sat down to the right chair beside Razus.

"Heh, look," he laughed. "I'm Razus's right hand man."

Both men laughed. Nadia raised a brow.

"Azael, you're pretty hyper today, considering you haven't had any sleep so far." She said. Azael couldn't help but grin like a little kid at her comment. Razus laughed again.

"Seems that someone had a great time at the festival today." He said.

Azael nodded, still grinning childishly. "Yeah, I had a great time! Even though Leah followed me everywhere and stuff, we had a blast. We went playing games, ate until our tummies burst, and bought a whole bunch of stuff!" He couldn't seem to contain his excitement in that little chair.

"So where are Leah and Mykou now, then?" asked Nadia as she sat down beside the giddy Azael.

"Hmm, don't know." He replied. "Mykou was here when Leah and I came, and he asked Leah if she brought any gemstones. Leah said she did, and then the both of them left. They said that they'll be back soon."

Razus nodded. "Then that'll give us some time to relax a bit before they return. I think I know what they're up to."

Azael looked at Razus with a confused expression. "So what are they doing?" he asked the crusader. Razus merely smiled.

"Let's just say we'll be getting to Glast Heim faster than you think…" With that, he left his seat to go look at some of the books amongst the shelves, leaving Nadia and Azael with a confused expression on their faces.

"What do you mean, faster than you think?" Nadia asked. Razus just smiled and continued to look at the books.

"Ah…!" whined Azael. "Curse you and your confusing riddles!" and he went up and followed Razus, constantly asking him what Leah and Mykou were up to.

Nadia smirked at Azael's antics, glad that he was happy at the moment, but deep down inside, her stomach was twisting and turning erratically. There might be a chance that Azael might get hurt from the mission to Glast Heim. And not just any cuts or bruises. He might end up really hurt.

Even though Razus explained of the gypsy woman's words more clearly, Nadia was still uneasy. Slowly, she rose from her chair and walked up to look at the silver and blue dragon at the crusader's side of the room, trying to distract herself from thinking of her fears.

Drawing closer to the large dragon, Nadia can see the intricate details it had on its scales. The great dragons were huge; its scale-like stone foot alone was at least 5 times larger than Mykou and Razus combined. Each and every blue scale was lightly outlined with silver that shone dazzlingly under the light of the large room.

Halfway up the stairs that wound around the dragon's wings was level to the dragon's great head. Its large eyes shone with a blazing blue and white that made it seem as if it was angry that it was held captive in this room. Its horns were straight and narrow like polished spears.

'Whoever built this must've put a lot of time and effort in it,' thought Nadia. In all its glory, the dragon was one of the proudest and greatest creatures of Rune Midgard until they became endangered when they began terrorizing small towns and killed countless numbers of people.

It seemed as though the dragon was staring right at her as Nadia went down the stairs to look at it once again. Its eyes seemed to pierce the soul, as if to say, 'I can feel your pain.' This feeling gave Nadia the worry and fear again of her future. Her stomach was tumbling around inside, so much so that she had to sit down again so that Azael wouldn't notice.

Too bad he noticed anyways.

"Nadia?" he asked, finally stopping from his nagging at Razus. "Is something wrong?"

Nadia stiffened. This was the one and only thing she wanted to avoid, and yet it happens anyways. Damn…

"No, there's nothing wrong," she replied, and gave him her fake smile as she did to Razus only moments before.

"Nadia…"Azael sighed. "I know you too well. Your fake smile gave it away. What's wrong?"

It was then that Razus decided to step in to save Nadia from explaining everything.

"It's nothing, really," he said, trying to brush away the subject. "Nadia's only a bit spooked because a gypsy said that she'll see some problems in the near future." Razus wasn't really one for lying, but that wasn't really lying, was it?

"Oh," said the young crusader as he sat down beside Nadia. "Well, don't believe in what those lying gypsies tell you. They're probably lying to you so that you'll come back again and pay even more for their fake fortunes."

'If only I can believe you,' thought Nadia. With a sigh, she told him that she will try to forget the ordeal for his sake. Truly, for his sake…

Just then, there was a shout from across the room, near the large red and gold dragon of the knight's side. It was Leah and Mykou.

"Heey!!" called Leah as she sped down the stairway and to the chair across from Azael. "It's about time you came, Nadia. We've been waiting for you, you know?"

Nadia smiled. "We came here a long time ago. We're all waiting for you and Mykou to come back from wherever you guys came from."

"We were at the fields just near Glast Heim, for your information," Said Mykou as he casually went down the stairs and put his feet up on the table. "So sorry we couldn't come back any faster." He said sarcastically.

"Well, no matter," said Razus as he sat down at the head crusader's chair again. "Now that we are all here—"

"How'd you guys get to Glast Heim so quickly?!" exclaimed Azael. "Never mind that, but how'd you guys get _back_ so fast?!"

Leah giggled at Azael's childish amazement. "We teleported and warped back here. We were lucky we didn't encounter any monsters in the way, though. That would've been a problem."

"Pfft, yeah right," Mykou scoffed. "I could take down any of those little monsters easily."

Nadia laughed "Sure you can," she said sarcastically.

"Ahem," coughed Razus after a while. "Now that we are all here, we can discuss of how we will meet and exterminate this monster in Glast Heim."

"So what were you guys doing there already?" Azael asked Mykou, ignoring Razus completely. Upon seeing Razus's annoyed glare, Azael quieted down and didn't say another word after that.

"Anyways," continued Razus again, pausing slightly to look at Azael to see if he will interrupt again. "I've decided that while we are outside of Glast Heim, Leah will strengthen us with her blesses. Once we are in the castle, we do not, I repeat, do _not _separate. If, in any case one of us is forced from the group, we will meet outside the gates and go in together again."

"But Glast Heim is full of various rooms and undead beings," said Mykou. "There might be a chance that we'll end up lost and can't get outside."

"Or too preoccupied," Nadia pointed out, nodding at the monk's comment.

"We won't be that deep into the castle's chambers." Replied Azael. "We come in, and then we go out. We're not going to linger."

"But in case we do get lost?" asked Leah, who shivered at the thought of being alone in the dark, haunted place.

"Let's just hope that's not the case." Said Razus after some thought. "But if we do end up separated enough that we can't get back together, then we…move on."

Nadia gawked at his decision. "What do you mean, move on?!" she said. "We can't leave to let our friends die in that place!" Nadia was panicking now. What if she was the one that got lost there?

"I agree with Razus," said Mykou. "We can't be wasting our time in there because one of us is gone. If we do that, all of us will be dead."

Azael nodded. "It won't happen to us, but if it does, we'll have to assume that whoever's lost is dead and we move on."

"B-but what if they're not dead?" stammered Nadia. "What if one of us could still be alive there, calling out for help? Are you saying that we just abandon them and leave them for dead?"

"Fine," sighed Mykou. "Then if one of us is ever lost in Glast Heim, we as a team will go outside of the gates and wait for whoever's lost there. We'll wait for a maximum of three days. That's long enough for a person to live without food and water in there. If any of us don't come out by then, we'll assume that they're dead and we continue on in our mission."

"Don't worry, Nadia," said Azael after a while. "This is kiddie's stuff. We won't get lost." Nadia remained silent as she looked on in fear of what the worst will happen.

"Things will be fine, Nadia," said Leah soothingly. "We'll all look out for each other. We'll be ok." And she smiled her convincing smile that everyone seemed to always fall for.

"See, even Leah's ok about it all." Azael pointed out. "Everything will be alright, don't you worry."

Nadia sighed. "Ok," she replied reluctantly. "If one of us goes missing, we'll…we'll move on."

"So it's settled then? If anyone goes missing, we'll give them 3 days time to come back outside. If they don't, we continue without them," said Razus. Everyone nodded. "Then once we find the monster, we'll call on Leah's powers again to weaken it and strengthen ourselves. Once it's weakened, Azael, Nadia and I will form a Grand Cross and destroy it for good. If it's too strong and we only weakened it, Mykou will come in and use his Azura Strike to destroy it then."

"Hey, careful with my powers, there," said Mykou. "My punches are good enough for whatever we're killing. I don't need to go all out on nothing."

"Yes, but just in case?" said Leah. "It could very well play dead and we wouldn't know until it's too late. It'd be best to go with something that guarantees our victory."

Azael laughed. "Wow Leah. You seem to be getting along just fine in this, aren't you?"

Leah smiled. "You think so? I'm finding this adventure thing more fun now that we're all together."

Mykou rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, enough with the small talk. Shall we get to the accursed place and get this over with already?"

Razus nodded. "Everyone agrees with the plan so far?" everybody nodded. "Alright, now that we're all ready, lead the way Leah."

Leah nodded as she took out a shiny blue gemstone. Azael, slightly confused as what was going on, looked in silence.

The young red-haired priestess held the gem firmly in her grip and closed her eyes in concentration. The gem began to glow brightly in her hand, pulsing with intense energy.

It was then that Azael knew what she was going to do.

"No way!" he said, astonished and scared at the same time. The last time he went in there, things weren't very pleasant. "We can't all be going in that!"

Mykou nodded. "While we were heading out to Glast Heim, I taught her how to make a portal. I can't be the only one with all the warps, you know. I ain't Kafra."

Azael was about to make another comment when there was a sudden flash of light. Quickly, Leah placed the blue gemstone onto the carpeted floor of the room. The gem dissolved into the floor until the there was nothing left except the pulsing light. A few seconds later, there was a bright column of light in the middle on the pulses.

Azael was getting nervous again. Man, he hated jumping into the unknown like this.

Razus was the first to calmly step into the portal. Mykou stepped in soon after. Nadia, who was still fearful and worried about her future, hesitated before going in.

"Y-you first," she said to Azael, but he shook his head.

"Ladies first."

Leah sighed. If this keeps up, the portal will fade before anyone's able to continue anywhere.

"Just go, Nadia!" she said before she pushed the surprised girl into the portal. Azael was astounded. That was something that Mykou always did to him. Leah's adjusting to the outside world pretty well. Maybe too well…

Leah looked at Azael next as Nadia faded into the portal's light.

"Well?" she said. "Aren't you going to come in too? It's fine, don't worry. I made sure it's steadier this time." After a few lingering seconds, Leah gripped onto his hand tightly and led him to the portal, which was beginning to fade.

"We'll go on together, ok?" she said kindly.

Azael hesitated, but nodded.

When they both jumped into the portal, everything became blindingly bright again, like when Azael first stepped into the portal the first time, only this time he was better prepared. The travel was more pleasant as he clung onto Leah's hand like a young child. Looking at her, he saw a glimpse of her smile as she looked back at him for a brief second.

Suddenly, Azael hit something hard and damp as he was thrust out of the portal, along with Leah, who landed perfectly on her feet.

Looking at what he landed on, Azael noticed that it was concrete, made of bricks and cement. It was damp, too. Like it was raining the nigh before and the ground hasn't dried just yet.

In between the cracks of the hard ground, he saw moss that have been growing for hundreds of years along with the old, worn out, stone walls of the ancient city. Wild vines grew along the walls and through the cracks as even more moss and poisonous mushrooms grew on the ground and on the fallen trees of the old, forgotten city.

There was a neverending mist here, a cloud of cold, damp air that lingered in the city for what seemed like forever. The thick, swamp-like smell filled his nostrils along with another similar smell. Something that, as a crusader, he knew too well.

The smell of death.

Besides the sudden cold temperature from Morocc, there was an uneasy chill going down Azael's spine. The great monuments seemed to emanate sorrow, despair, agony and hatred, and he couldn't stop but feel the same way as well. It seemed that most of the souls were restless not because they were angry, but because they felt such extreme grief in their lifetime that it carried on with them into the afterlife as well.

Looking to his left, he saw Nadia, Razus, Leah and Mykou, who were looking at the large, worn monuments like he was. Razus noticed that he was looking at him, and he smiled at the young crusader.

"Welcome to Glast Heim, Azael."

* * *

_Preview of the next chapter:_

_Finally starting their mission, Azael and his friends set out for the first time onto the paved, empty streets of Glast Heim. Their welcome is cut short, however, by a strange monster that resides just inside the doors of the monumental buildings, an ancient creature that could've been the reason why Glast Heim was destroyed in the first place. Of course, the great knights of old couldn't kill it...how can our travellers do so?_

* * *

Do I need some notes on things to describe things? Hmm...we already know about my weird warp portal thingamabob and the Crusader Headquarters...Nope, I think that's it. 

Well, seems that the plot begins to thicken from here, folks, but I think it was already bad enough as it is from the start. Nadia's paranoid, Azael's nervous because she's nervous, and it seems something weird's going on with Leah and Azael lately...Heh, I've been leaving Mykou and Razus out from all the fun. Don't worry guys, you'll be in there soon.

Read and Review!!

_Winter-ness, signing out!_


	6. Glast Heim

Yay, next chapter is up! I'm a bit disappointed at how many reviews I'm not getting lately. It's like I can hear crickets chirping...

Ok, ok, anyways, finally, the moment you've all been waiting for has come! Dun duna daa! Glast Heim is here!! whoo! Yeah, long wait, but anyone who reads this story is awesome for waiting this long for it, haha.

Well, without further ado, let's get this started!

(Oh, have any of you guys wondered that even though RO's supposed to be based on norse mythology, the holy classes and some items in it are more based on Christianity and greek mythology? Just pointing it out there...)

**Disclaimer: **No, I do not own RO...Yes, yes, we all wished we did, but we don't...

Chapter 5: Glast Heim

The towering castles of Glast Heim held a majesty that was unmatched by any other monument in all of Rune Midgard. Wild vines clung to the walls of the cold bricks, reaching for the light that was absent in the never ending mist within the abandoned city. Moss was growing thick in the cracks of the damp cement ground, and along the sides of the silent, abandoned houses as well.

Everything behind the tall walls of the city was eerily silent. Stone houses stood without a sound, its doors swung silently while it barely hung onto its hinges. Old statues, nearly engulfed with vines and moss still stood with its grace and pride, some with their stone eyes looking up at the sky, as if praying that the empty streets they've been guarding will soon be populated with people once again.

Broken, cracked statues stared on with their cold eyes as Azael, Razus, Mykou, Nadia and Leah trespassed their streets, their territory, to destroy their frightful spirit, a soul whose life used to have been considered family long ago.

Leah looked at the statues in awe as she followed behind the others. The ivory white figures looked back at her, emotionless.

"Guys," she said meekly as she stared at one statue. Its eyes were blindfolded but its hands were held as if it were praying. "Have you ever wondered how Glast Heim was abandoned in the first place? Everything seems as if they just packed up and left for no reason."

Azael, after hearing her speak up for the first time since they've been there, slowed down until he was beside the priestess.

"No one knows for sure, actually," He said. "Some people say that there was a demon that took over the city and threatened to destroy anyone who tried to stop him, and then there are others that say that Glast Heim was just hit by an earthquake."

Mykou, after hearing Azael's theories, spoke up as well. "The Sage's Academy says that it was due to various monsters and demons that caused Glast Heim to fall. Kind of like an apocalypse, really." He shrugged as he continued walking.

Leah shivered. She could sense the pain and sorrow that was emanating from every wall, every monument that was near her. It seemed that the city itself was alive, crying for the people it used to house, and at the same time, angry at her unwanted trespassing. Whatever the reason why Glast Heim was abandoned, it was sure enough that there are those that haven't left the ancient city just yet. It felt as if Glast Heim itself wanted her to leave.

After a few moments of walking through the empty streets in silence, Razus turned to face the group, his face weary.

"Alright, guys…and girls," he said, looking at Leah and Nadia. "Time to draw our weapons. We're heading deeper into the city where the main castle's found. There's no question that we'll see some undead there, so let's get ready for the fights ahead."

Without a word, Razus, Azael and Nadia drew their swords and held their shields firmly. Mykou latched on his brass knuckles on his right hand and held his rosary in his left, while Leah took something out of her small pack that she carried at her side.

It was a thick, hard-covered, blue book.

"The Bible?" asked Nadia. "How do you think you can fend off enemies with the Bible? I mean no offense…"

Mykou laughed. "You'll be surprised at how well the Bible can do in these situations."

Leah smiled, but did not say a word. She was glad that she was allowed to bring God's book with her into the strange darkness of the haunted castles. At least that gave her some courage. She could already feel her confidence growing as she held her bible tightly in her arms.

"Alright, we're all ready?" said Razus after a while. "Then let's continue on. Be sure to stay close to each other and don't let your guard down." He smirked. "Let's not find out why Glast Heim is known for its dangers and traps, shall we?"

Everyone walked silently on through the mist, Leah nervously holding her bible as she walked closely behind Azael, with Nadia walking just in front of him, firmly holding her shield and sword.

Razus walked slowly in front, carefully making sure not to provoke the creatures that hid in the shadows of the buildings, watching their every move as they walked.

Mykou was stiff as he followed his friend to the great castle, looking at every direction, waiting for something to jump out and attack him. He was ready for anything.

The castle was located at the center of the whole city. They were nearing the many steps to the large fortress when Leah heard a low rumble deep inside the castle.

The red-head let out a gasp. "W-what was that?" she said, immediately clinging onto Azael and her bible as the low growl grew louder and louder as they walked up the steps to the entrance to the castle. Mykou didn't even hesitate as he got ready to face the monster ahead, but Razus held him back before he was about to lunge through the thick, metal doors.

"Leah!" he called. "Bless us! Now!"

Leah jumped when Razus called her name, but she obeyed with what he said, quickly opening her bible and murmuring some words.

"Through the power of God, He blesses you!"

There was a faint, glowing halo above everyone's heads as she cast her spell, which then dissolved into sparkling light that faded into every person. Azael could feel the power surging through him as the bless began its effect.

Just in front, Razus was ready for the battle. Mykou was beside him, already anticipating the battle ahead. The large doors that were in front of them were a hundred times larger than all of them combined, both of them adorned with intricate designs of the Valkyries battling various sorts of evil monsters.

The low growling sound now became a low roar as the large, bronze doors trembled in front of the small party.

Azael flinched. What kind of monster could give out such a terrible sound?

As if his answer was waiting for him, the door burst open, revealing the giant creature.

It was a chimera, one of the great mythological creatures of its kind. Its tails were bodies of snakes, their heads thrashing about and hissing poison at everything in its wake. Its hind legs were that of a goat's, sharp hooves pounding the ground like an earthquake, while its large front legs were lion-like; huge paws that crushed stone beneath its step. The creature's head was massive; its thick mane was messy with fur crusted with dried blood from past knights that tried to destroy it.

Leah froze in terror. The chimera's sharp, piercing eyes stared at her for what seemed like an eternity. They seemed hungry for fresh meat; eager to crush the puny humans just for the fun of it all.

No one moved. They were too frozen in fear to move. The chimera took a step into the cold mist outside, the faint sunlight shadowing its features, making them look deeper, more menacing. It opened its mouth to roar again, revealing its sharp, frighteningly large teeth, strong enough to demolish the shields of the crusaders with one move.

Its bloodcurdling roar was all it took. Leah was the first to run, soon followed by Nadia and Azael. By the time Razus turned to give the command to run, they were all the way down the steps and hiding in various places already.

"Hey!" he shouted as he ran from the large chimera. "What happened to sticking together?!"

"That was kind of thrown out the window, along with fighting the giant freak." Mykou was hidden well behind a broken house, which Razus hid into as well.

Once he felt that the chimera wasn't chasing him, he asked his companion, "Where are Azael and the others?" He could hear the thumping of the chimera's large paws beating to the same beat of his pounding heart as it slowly went down the steps of the large castle.

Mykou shook his head. "Don't know. I didn't see them when I got here." Both men ducked as the chimera roared again, shaking the foundations of stone houses until it crumbled. Razus quickly raised his shield to protect himself from the falling bricks and debris, tightly holding his sword to get ready for the battle.

"Kyrie Eleison!"

As he braced for the impact of the rubble, he felt nothing. He heard the pounding and the crushing of various stone walls, but he felt no impact. Was this what death felt like?

Daring to take his shield down, he saw the thin barrier that was separating him from the heavy bricks of the demolished house. He looked at Mykou, who looked back at him with the same confusion that he had. Clearly, someone had cast a protective spell on him, but who was it?

Suddenly, there was a shout behind the two men.

"Impositio Manus!"

In a rain of light, Mykou and Razus felt their strength increase tenfold, their weapons glowing with energy and power as if they were like new.

Turning behind him, Razus saw Leah and Azael nearby, Leah with her book open, casting spells in a whirlwind of words.

"Increase Agility!" the young priestess shouted.

"Run!" shouted Azael in a hurry. Dumbfounded, Razus realized that he was being attacked by the chimera, its razor sharp claws trying to scrap through Leah's thin, magical barrier.

"Get your asses going and run!" screamed Azael again. He was beginning to sound hysterical again as Razus struggled to stand. The barrier was beginning to weaken as the chimera's claws made a crack through the thin barricade.

That was when it hit him.

Not even daring to look back anymore, Razus sped blindingly through the barrier, not thinking of commanding the others to do the same; he knew they would follow him.

Mykou sped through along with him, dragging Leah behind him who couldn't keep up with the rest as she tried to keep the others safe with her spells. The chimera gave another bloodcurdling roar that now shook everything even more than before. The trees nearby began to tremble and houses collapsed as if they were made of mere dust.

Azael ran for his life as he heard the monster's deafening cry. He didn't look up nor down as he ran, he didn't even think of slowing down as his lungs began to feel like they were about to burst. All he could focus on was Razus' navy blue cloak, which was flowing in front him, uncaring and unaware of the dangers his owner is in.

Just then he heard Nadia's voice.

"Azael!" she shouted. "Tell the guys to get over here!"

He could hear her voice, but where was she? For the first time since he ran from the large creature, Azael looked behind him. The chimera was no where to be seen, but neither was Nadia. Was it some illusion he was hearing?

"Azael!" came the shout again, this time, he could hear it clearly. It was coming from his left.

Sure enough, there was Nadia, her face slightly stricken with fear as she stood. She was in front of a larger building than the houses everyone else was hiding from. Much, much bigger. It had bronze doors similar to that of the castle they had previously saw, only this time, it had the Valkyries praying and dining in the halls of Valhalla.

It was the Glast Heim church.

"Tell everyone to get in here!" Nadia shouted. "It's safe here, I checked."

Without missing a beat, Azael called for Leah, Mykou and Razus, who answered far away, making sure that what they were hearing wasn't an illusion made up by the chimera. They were being protected by Leah's barrier again, even though the monster was no longer seen anywhere anymore.

"Guys!" called Azael, careful not to be so loud as to let the beast know where they were. "Over here! Nadia has found a place to hide!"

The three were hesitant to move from where they were, but after a clear go from Azael, they quickly ran to him and Nadia, who held the large doors open for them.

Once in the church, they strained themselves to close the large, bronze doors quickly before the monster caught up with them.

Nadia gasped a big sigh of relief before setting herself down on one of the old pews of the worn-down church. The monument was huge and dwarfed even the large dragons of Morocc and then some. Great stained glass windows dimly lit the place, but it wasn't enough as there was barely enough light to see the back of the main room. Then again, it could be because it was so far away, no one can tell where it ended anyways.

Once again, Leah opened her bible to another page and whispered some words again.

"Ruwarch!" And the room filled with a bright light, revealing everything in sight.

Azael, surprised at how bright the light was, told Leah to lessen the light down a bit.

"If it's too bright, the chimera will be able to see where we're hiding," he said. "It'd be best to keep it to a dim glow for now."

Leah nodded and controlled the lighting until it seemed the large space was filled with some dimly lit candles. Azael nodded. Perfect.

Like outside, the church's walls were filled with moss and surrounded by vines, but its walls were fully intact with no such holes in them or anything penetrating through the thick, domed roof; not even light passed through the monumental building.

Mykou and Razus sat casually down on one of the other pews, still clutching their weapons, and panting from the run. After a few moments of looking at each other and Azael and Leah, they both broke down into a laugh.

"Well, that was exhilarating, wasn't it?" said Mykou after a while.

"What a rush!" exclaimed Razus as he continued on chuckling.

Nadia and Azael stared at them, bewildered at the two men who seemed to be laughing after running for their lives from absolute danger. Have they gone insane?

"Erm, I don't mean to be the party pooper here," said Leah after the laughing calmed to a chortle. "But we're still trapped in a church with a giant, bloodthirsty monster looking for us outside. Things don't seem to be a laughing matter to me."

"Hate to point out the truth, but she's right," said Nadia with a frown. "How are we able to get out of here alive with that…that _thing_ chasing after us?"

Azael sighed, looking forlornly at the older crusader. "It seems like we've already reached our end." He said. "All without even putting a scratch on that chimera."

Nadia stiffened, her memories flying back to the gypsy's words. No…no, no one's going to die here. Not her, not Azael, no one.

"No!" she shouted, her words echoing loudly in the large church room. "We can't give up now! We just can't!"

Mykou flinched at the loud words.

"Hey, keep it down, will you?" he replied standing up. "There's still that monster out there and if he hears you—"

Just then, there was a loud, ear-piercing roar. The chimera heard them, and its roar shook the whole church with such force that debris fell from the roof.

Razus cursed as the creature continued on with its loud cry. If this keeps up, the monster won't have to kill them; the heavy falling bricks will.

"See what happens when you don't shut up?" scoffed Mykou to Nadia, who replied by giving the monk a glare.

Everyone took shelter under Leah's magical barrier as they watched the large bricks fall from the roof. When the roaring ceased and the rocks stopped falling, Razus decided that the chimera was still far off from them and that they were still safe for the time being.

"But keep your guard up just in case, guys." he warned. "We're not out of the woods just yet."

When Leah's barrier was finally taken off, Razus had already come up with a different plan.

"Ok, it seems obvious that this mission is way too big for only five of us," he said. "My plan is to get back to Morocc, send a message for some extra help and go back there."

Mykou was the first to reply. "No way!" he exclaimed. "We're already here, we've got our weapons, Leah blessed us, and the monster's right where we want him! I say we stay here and kill that thing."

Azael shook his head. "Razus is right. That chimera's way too powerful for us all, even with your Asura Strike. I think it'd be best for us to leave, regroup and come back stronger and with a guaranteed win."

Mykou frowned, but hesitantly agreed. "So what, are we all just going to teleport back to Morocc? I'm out of blue gemstones to warp us back there."

"But I still have a couple," said Leah. "And I think I can remember the way back to Morocc. I can warp us back there."

Giving out an exasperated sigh, the monk put up his hands in surrender.

"Fine, do what you want," he said angrily. "I still say we stay and fight."

Complying with the new plan, Leah took out a sparkling blue gemstone and began her spell to return to the desert city while everyone waited around her in anticipation to get back to safety.

Just then, a large rock fell right onto the priestess's foot.

"Ow!" she shouted, just as the portal was beginning to form. "Oh, no, wait--!"

But it was too late. The blue gemstone in her hand dissolved into nothing, the spell was broken and the warp portal disappeared before it even formed.

Nadia and Azael gave out a groan as they watched the portal shrink into nothing, disappointed at losing their ticket out, and angry at the damned rock for interrupting their escape.

"No!" Leah exclaimed, looking at the spot where the portal had been. "Oh, I'm so sorry guys. I'll try again, but this time, with no mistakes."

Razus nodded. He smiled at her with content.

"It's alright, Leah," he said. "We're in a safe place. Just take your time and don't worry about anything."

At that moment, Nadia heard something strange. Rocks were falling, but there was no roar of the chimera outside. Bricks were moving, cracking all around the church roof above. When the young crusader looked up, she saw them.

"Guys…Leah," she said, almost hyperventilating. "I don't think we're alone in this room." She pointed to the large masses above, who were staring right back at the group with their large, stone eyes.

Gargoyles.

Living, moving gargoyles of stone that lived in the large church room. They were silent, creeping around the church roof with barely much of a sound except their stone claws scratching the bricks of the walls. They stood there, watching, staring at the frightened group without so much as an eagerness to attack.

Leah froze in fear, clutching another blue gemstone in her hand that she was going to use for her spell. Azael stared back at them, trying to keep calm at the frightening creatures, whose stone body and wings creaked whenever they jerked downwards at him.

Razus was stiff, tightly holding his sword and shield as he looked on at the large monsters. There must be a hundred of them right here, he thought. Probably more in the other rooms and in the shadows where they can't be seen by the light. This can't be good.

His mind was a jumble of thoughts now as he continued staring on at the creatures, but they all lead to the same question.

And, as if Mykou was reading his mind, the monk murmured, "Why? Why aren't they attacking?"

It was then that Razus had realized that they haven't done anything yet. The gargoyles had not moved or done anything ever since they came into the church, let alone attack them. Why are they just hanging there, staring at them with their cold eyes?

"Leah," whispered Razus, not even taking his eyes off of the stone creatures. "Continue on with your spell."

Everyone looked at the elder crusader in amazement. One move might be the trigger to provoke those gargoyles!

"What are you doing?!" whispered Nadia sharply. "If we move one bit, they might attack!"

"They had many chances to attack," said Razus calmly, his voice a little bit louder now. "But they didn't. They could've killed us all the minute we walked into this place, but they haven't yet."

The gargoyles continued to stare blankly at the crusaders, some cocking their head to the side as they looked on curiously at the crusader's conversation.

"I think," Razus said for a moment. "I think they're waiting for their leader."

Azael was beginning to tremble as the stone monsters began to get restless and shifted to different parts of the church roof, not ripping their gazes from him for even a second.

"I think I know what they're waiting for," said Azael nervously while holding his sword tightly in front of him.

"I think…I think they're waiting for the chimera."

Nadia stiffened. If the gargoyles are here, waiting for their master, then that must mean that the chimera isn't far off.

"W-we have to get out of here. Now!"

Suddenly, there was a loud, thundering roar outside. It shook the church once again like a great earthquake that rumbled everything inside, including the gargoyles.

They became highly restless now, moving and scurrying around the roof with anxiety for the command to attack. They began screeching, replying to their master where their prey was located.

Everyone was alarmed. If the chimera knew where they were, it's all over.

"Leah!" shouted Nadia. "Cast Lex Divina on them! Silence them!"

But Leah was flipping the pages in her bible frantically, not sure where she was looking.

"Leah!"

"I know!" she screamed, her eyes beginning to water. "I know! But I don't know how to do it!"

Mykou gawked. "You don't know how to cast Silence?!" he said. "What kind of priest are you?"

"I'm sorry!" the red haired girl said again. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! How many times do you want me to say it?"

"Enough!" shouted Azael, drawing his sword again, still looking at the stone creatures above. "This isn't going to help. Those things know we're here now, and who knows when that chimera's going to be back. It doesn't matter even if Leah casts Silence, it's too late anyways."

"But you can still make a portal to warp us back to a city, right?" said Nadia, praying for the priestess to say yes.

Unfortunately, Razus shook his head.

"No," he said gravely. "Leah's cast is too long. By the time the portal's open, we'll all be dead. We've no choice now. We have to stand and fight."

Looking at the gargoyles again, they screeched and howled, impatient at waiting for their master's command.

One finally lost its patience as it swooped down and jumped at Azael, who blocked its attack with his shield. Its great weight was pushing the young crusader down, using its claws to scrap at his armour and into the delicate flesh inside.

Immediately, Nadia quickly threw her heavy shield like a boomerang at the stone creature, which fell from the moment of impact. It shrieked at her, its stone eyes glaring angrily at the girl.

The other gargoyles shrieked in reply, wanting to join in on the attack as well. They were getting more and more impatient as time passed, pacing around the walls on the roof of the church, possibly looking for a better weak spot to attack.

"Thanks," said Azael to Nadia as he brought his shield up for protection again.

Just then, there was another shriek high up on the roof.

And then another.

And yet another.

The stone monsters shrieked loudly, yowling and screaming for the warrior's flesh and blood. They began to spread their stone wings to full size, making them bigger and the roof darker until the domed cover could not be seen anymore.

They jumped and paced, some ran down the walls while others just flew straight down, crushing the ground beneath them under their heavy weight. They surrounded the group into a small circle, trapping them with no way out.

Nadia looked around frantically for another way out. The doors outside were blocked by the pews to keep the chimera out, but it seemed to serve another purpose. True, no one can get in, but now no one can get out as well.

They were truly trapped.

In a split second, the gargoyle that attacked Azael leapt again onto the crusader, quickly followed by all of its other companions.

Ready this time, Azael pushed it back with his shield, but it was too late. The shrieks and battle-cries of great monsters grew louder and louder as they rushed in to attack them.

There was no stopping them now; their full power was finally unleashed.

The battle has begun.

* * *

_Preview of Next Chapter:_

_Things aren't always what they seem in the Glast Heim church. Once, it used to be a safety haven for many, but now it is a looming death warrent for our warriors as they fight what seems to be a neverending battle with the hundreds of gargoyles inside. What's worse, they are trapped with no way out as the only exit is barricaded shut and is guarded by the bloodthirsty chimera outside. How will they be able to get out of this one? There seems to be no way to get out of this mess at all! _

* * *

Ok, some notes: 

The chimera: had to do a little bit of research for this one, since I'm no good at mythology and history and whatnot, but from what I've seen, the chimera was supposed to have the head of a lion, its tails the head of snakes, and its midsection was supposed to have a goat's head in it (correct me if I'm wrong...). BUT, seeing the sprite for the Chimera in Ragnarok, it seemed that only its hindlegs were similar to a goat's, rather than having a second goat head like some myths have it. I was juggling with the style of this one, and in the end, I stayed with the modified Ragnarok version. Looked better anyways...at least I'd only have to have one head to deal with...

The gargoyles: This one was fun, as I've seen them in game as the annoying buggers with arrows and gloves and had a bit of a cartoon-y appearance to them. However, in this story, they're more fearful, like real gargoyles you see in large castles or something. I've also stuck with them being made fully of stone, as it gives them more of a frightening appearance rather than the 'tame' version we see in game. I guess you can think of them as big, weird statues in Tomb Raider meets Gollum in LoTR. :)

Blessing: Very subtle and not as game-ish as I've seen most writers do it in FF. I didn't want to lose the serious scene with angels dancing around on people's heads, but I didn't want people thinking, "what is she talking about?" (although I'm sure you're already thinking it.) so I modified it into a simple halo instead. Plus, shouting "Blessing!" didn't seem so dramatic, so I made it a bit longer than the original.

Impositio Manus: The skill was meant to strengthen the weapon itself to give more attack damage, so I decided in order to do that, they have to be sharper than they already were, you know? Make 'em just like new. Of course, the buff itself was changed so there wasn't an angel showing above someone's head and stuff, but I still kept the power as the same.

Increase Agility: Ok, this one I was toying with whether I wanted to translate it into latin so it'd fit with the Impositio Manus thing, but then I realized that, 'hey, I don't speak latin.' so I kept it as english. I'm sure that its name explains it all, so there's no need to tell you what it does. :)

Leah's Bible: Now, I'm thinking that Leah should've used a mace as her weapon of choice, but then I remembered that she's more of a kinder, support-type priest, so I gave her the Bible instead. Also, in order to cast the full force of ALL her attacks, she needs to have the book opened and be able to understand what she's casting. Otherwise, she could end up endangering everyone's lives. We don't want that, now do we?

Well, I think that's about it. Tell me if there's anything I'm missing, so I can put it up there as well. Oh, and while you're at it, Review too, please :)

_Winter, signing out!_


	7. Battle in the House of God

Sorry for the long wait, guys, but I got the next chapter done! I know, I know, it's a bit short...I initially wanted to have one chapter, but I figured it was way too long, so I cut it in two...next part's coming up soon, I swear. I blame my procrastinating mind, telling me what to do...which is nothing, but oh well...

Make sure to review at the end!

_Disclaimer: I do not, will not and cannot own Ragnarok Online. I wish I could...sigh..._

Chapter 6: Battle in the House of God

The church was full of the gargoyles now; their heavy stone wings blocked the stained glass windows from any light, their screams deafened the ears of the terrified warriors as they attacked ruthlessly at them.

"Azael!" shouted Nadia as she slashed her sword at one of the hard creatures that were attacking Azael. "Keep your guard up! I can't fend all of them off of you."

"Saftey Wall!"

In a second, there was a faint pillar of red light that surrounded Azael as the barrage of gargoyles jumped at him again, only to be stopped by the light. It was like glass; hard, adamant glass that didn't even crack as the stone creatures scratched and clawed at the strange light.

Looking at Leah, Azael smiled.

"Thanks, Leah," Said Azael, his voice barely heard over the noises of the stone creatures.

"Less talking, more hitting!" she shouted back at him, only to be interrupted by another one of the creatures that tried to attack her.

"Kyrie Eleison!" she shouted as it attacked. In a flash, it was taken aback by the barrier, and was thrown across the room from the repelling force of the strange magic.

The gargoyle screeched in anguish as it ran to attack the priestess again. As it jumped at the barrier again, it was stopped by Mykou. He punched at the stone creature, his brass knuckles flashed straight into its underbelly, causing it to crack slightly at the impact, but the monk didn't stop.

Again he attacked the creature, this time at the creature's wings. With such speed, he punched at it, cracking its wings, its stomach, and its stone throat. His brass knuckles flashed again with an unseen light as he pulled back for his last attack. With such force, he punched right at the middle of the gargoyle, making yet another crack in its chest, which spread through to the other cracks it had.

The gargoyle screeched at Mykou, but he remained calm as it raised its large, stone like claws to attack. Slowly, the cracks widened, growing longer as it raised its claws, reaching all the way to its shoulders until it finally crumbled.

Falling apart into normal stone rocks, the gargoyle began to crumble into nothing, the cracks in its body widening more and more until limbs began to fall to the floor, lifeless. With another shriek, it jumped at the monk on last time, but it never made it. Its stone head fell as its body crumbled into nothing but dust on the floor. It was finally dead.

Razus looked at his friend as he held off five other gargoyles with his shield. Slashing one apart with his sword as if they were nothing, he smiled at Mykou.

"Nice chain combo!" he shouted.

Mykou smirked. "Got 30 already," he said with pride as he punched at another gargoyle. "You ok, Leah?"

The young priestess nodded in reply, shocked at the monk's strength and agility. And all that time, not one scratch on him!

Razus smirked as he pushed the gargoyles away with his shield. Taking his sword, he sliced open his opposite hand, leaving a gash of blood that flowed freely from his hand. His sword was outlined with crimson as he thrust it into the ground.

"Grand Cross!" Razus shouted.

The blood on his sword spread to four different directions, creating a large, crimson cross that glowed a fiery red. Slowly, as the power of the Grand Cross began to build up, the blood dissolved and it turned into the faintest colour of blue.

The gargoyles didn't know what to make of the strange occurrence, but as they stood in bewilderment at the glowing ground, the light crept up on them, filling up their cracks and widening them until they began to crumble, one by one.

Razus smirked. It wasn't over just yet. He squeezed the blade of his sword with his wounded hand, letting the blood trickle down to the already glowing ground. Like a small earthquake, the ground that was hit by the light crumbled into nothing, leaving only the bright light that was destroying the gargoyles as if they were mere toys.

"Show off!" called Mykou as he punched another one of the stone creatures. Razus smiled, but the power of the Grand Cross was too much and he fell on one knee, exhausted from the loss of too much blood.

Seeing his comrade hurt, Mykou ran over to his weakened friend, who was overwhelmed by the gargoyles as he tried to fend them off with what little strength he had. As he ran, however, he was met by more of the accursed beasts as they tried to ambush the monk.

"Leah!" Mykou called as he fought the gargoyles. "Get over here and help Razus!"

It was no use. Leah was trapped as well. Her red safety wall was engulfed by the never-ending crowd of gargoyles as they tried to scratch and claw their way through it. Leah's screams of terror were drowned by the screeches of her enemies, giving her no safe way out.

Nadia ran over to help the priestess, pushing them away with her heavy shield and fighting them with her sword, but the pile of them was too great. The girls were swarmed by them now, Nadia's shield barely fending off the gargoyles while Leah's safety wall was weakening with every passing second.

It was total anarchy now. Everyone was assailed by monsters from every corner, with no way to defend themselves as the gargoyles attacked them. There was a cracking sound as Leah's safety wall broke, and shrieks from the gargoyles as they jumped on the helpless priestess.

"Leah!" Azael shouted, but there was no answer. "Leah!!" She couldn't be seen from underneath the stone creatures, let alone be heard. Nadia tried her best to fend them off, but as she attacked one with her sword, another grabbed her cloak and flung her across the room and into the wall, knocking her out.

Some of the gargoyles ran towards the unconscious crusader, eager to kill her now that she was defenseless, but as they sunk their teeth into her throat, there was a loud rumble.

The chimera was getting impatient and it was angry at its minions for disobeying its orders to wait. With a terrifying roar, it commanded the gargoyles to destroy the pews that were barricading the church's great doorway to let its master inside.

Razus knew what was going on. If the chimera were able to get into the church, then the whole group would be done for.

"Mykou! Azael!" he cried. "Get the gargoyles away from the door! Now!"

Azael was hesitant, as he looked at the group of gargoyles that were attacking Leah at the moment. If the calls of the chimera were to make them stop attacking, they will stop attacking her and Leah may have a chance to live.

But the wait was too long. He had to get to Leah first

With his decision made, Azael headed towards the group of gargoyles that were around Leah and attacked, despite Mykou's shouts not to.

Little by little, the gargoyles backed down as their master's calls grew louder and more impatient as it waited. They began to move to the doorway and proceeded to gnaw at the wooden pews, much to Azael's relief. Running to Leah, he saw that her left side was badly wounded and that her right arm was broken. She was barely breathing under her weak body, but she was unconscious. The priestess was unable to help the warriors now.

Meanwhile, Mykou was having problems fending them off as the gargoyles swarmed towards the door. They seemed to never end as they fought him off the door to let their master in.

"Azael!" he shouted angrily. "Get your ass over here now!"

Azael felt that he had a duty to protect Leah, and didn't want to leave her side now that she's hurt, but seeing Razus walking slowly towards them, holding his bleeding left arm and sword, Azael stood up, holding his sword and shield.

"Don't worry," Razus said as he sat beside the unconscious priestess. "I'll protect her."

With a nod, Azael ran over to help Mykou, slashing the stone creatures with his sword or pushing them away with his shield. The gargoyles won't stop coming, however, as the two men fought them off the door. They screeched and shrieked at them as they climbed the walls, and gnawed on the rusty door hinges instead.

'This is bad,' thought Mykou as he continued fighting the gargoyles off. 'The door hinges are too high for me to reach, and there's too many of them to concentrate on my attacks.'

"Razus!" the monk shouted. "We don't have much time before the chimera gets here! We need to find a way--"

The gargoyles attacked him, jumping on him and Azael, not giving them anywhere to move. They tried to fight them off as best as they could, but the gargoyles kept on jumping on them, some of them held their legs, causing them to be unable to move. The monsters didn't attack, however, but they just held the two warriors in place as the other gargoyles chewed the door hinges away.

Razus was tense. If this keeps up, there's no way for any of them to get out alive. He tried to rise from where he was beside Leah, but the loss of blood was too much for him, and he had to sit down again, unable to help his comrades.

Nadia, at this moment, was beginning to regain consciousness as the gargoyles continued heading for the door. The first thing she was Leah, unconscious and bloody from her deep wounds, and Razus, with his left arm trickling blood constantly from his own wound.

Running over to them, Nadia then saw Azael and Mykou fending the gargoyles from the door.

"What's going on?" she said as she looked at Leah's wounds. "This looks bad. You think she'll be able to survive?"

"I honestly don't know, Nadia," replied Razus with a frown. "Leah's hurt pretty badly, and since she's unconscious she can't heal her wounds." He sighed. "She may not last long if it's not healed soon."

"I can heal her!" Nadia said as she ran to Leah's side. "I'm not as good as Leah, but at least it's better than nothing."

Running her hand over Leah's side, Nadia murmured the incantation to cast her healing spell. Her full concentration on the priestess and keeping her alive, while Razus sat, guarding them both, making sure none of the gargoyles got close to them.

Suddenly, there was a low groaning sound. Looking at how the other Mykou and Azael were doing, Razus saw that the door hinges were beginning to give way as the gargoyles continued gnawing on them and that the door itself was starting to slowly lean forward. The hinges were being chewed away.

The heavy door was going to fall on Azael and Mykou.

"Azael! Mykou! Get out of there now!" Razus shouted. "The door's about to fall!"

Both of the men struggled to get free from their stone bounds, but the gargoyles held on tightly, refusing to let go. But, as the door began to fall, theybegan to be more restless, not wanting to be crushed by the door. Soon, they jumped out of the way, fleeing to the walls for safety, as did the two warriors as they frantically ran to either side, safe from harm. The gargoyles shrieked to their master that the entrance was near ready, but the chimera was getting more and more impatient as it continued to wait.

The great, towering doors fell as the chimera tackled it to the ground. Azael and Mykou were already well out of the door's way as it crashed under the chimera's enormous weight.

There was a cloud of dust and debris as the giant monster walked into the grand church room. Light poured in from outside, making the gargoyles screech in pain. After hundreds of years with no sunlight, seeing it for the first time was excruciating. Some returned to the darkness, refusing to step into the painful light anymore.

The chimera growled at its minions, calling them back and reprimanding them for disobeying its orders. The gargoyles cleared the way for its master to pass, retreating to the walls and shadows where it was safe and cool. They quieted down as they were before they attacked; only looking and staring at every move with their stone cold eyes.

The chimera looked at its surroundings, its three snake head tails hissing and spitting at the gargoyles in anger. Lion-like eyes stared at its victims calmly, looking for the weakest prey first. It examined Azael and Mykou, the two who were the healthiest at that point and then to Razus, with his wounded left arm. He would be a nice prey, since he's already weak from his wound.

No... those three still had some fighting spirit in them.

Then it saw Nadia and the still unconscious Leah.

Yes...easier prey...

With a roar, it bounded towards the two, ready for the kill. It pushed Razus out of the way like a rag-doll while Nadia, abandoning her heals to protect herself, held her shield up to ready for the chimera's attack. It lunged at her, dragging its huge paws at her shield and throwing her to the other side of the room, leaving Leah, defenseless for the kill.

Razus ran towards the chimera again, hoping to distract Leah from the chimera's powerful jaws, only to be assaulted by the chimera's gargoyles. Five or ten of them came and attacked the crusader from all sides, distracting him from getting to the still unconscious Leah.

"Razus!"

Mykou ran to his comrade's aid, trying to defend his wounded friend, only to be surrounded by gargoyles himself. It seemed that there was no way out for the two.

There was only Azael and Nadia left as the chimera looked on at its prey. Gargoyles looked on with its hellish stare on the roof and walls as the two young crusaders looked on at the chimera.

Nadia looked at Azael, who looked back. There was no backing out on this. One will have to face the rest of the gargoyles while the other will have to go for the tremendous beast. They knew who was going in for the kill and who will have to be the distraction.

'Nadia, you're the quickest.' Thought Azael as he looked at her, hoping she was thinking the same thing. 'You distract the gargoyles as I get Leah.'

As if she heard every word, Nadia nodded and gripped her sword and shield tightly, ready for the plan to go into action.

At the same time, both Azael and Nadia ran towards the chimera, their swords and shields at the ready. But the chimera was quick to catch on to their plans and called for its minions to attack the boy.

At once, the stone creatures spread their wings and dove for Azael with no hesitation. The young crusader, caught off-guard at the change of plans, quickly dodged their attacks, but they were already onto him. The plan was had to be abandoned.

Nadia stood there, uncertain of what to do then. Razus, Mykou and Azael were all busy holding their own with the never-ending war of gargoyles while Leah lay unconscious and bleeding under the chimera. It was like there was no way out alive.

It seemed that the only escape will be death.

'_Death,'_ echoed in Nadia's mind then. The word was ringing in her head, along with the voice of the gypsy woman not too long ago. It seemed that her future has already come to an end.

Her memories flew back to the times long ago, when it was just innocent times with her friends and family. When the only thing that she had ever had to worry about were what weapons to use and what armour to buy. The times when it was only she and Azael, fighting side by side and beating all odds just like the heroes of old. Such good times…

Such…innocent times.

'No. No, this can't be the end.' Thought Nadia. 'There's no way for this to be the end. Not now.'

A new wave of energy flowed through her now as she stared at the chimera, who stared back at her with those fierce eyes. It sneered at her, daring her to attack.

'Only one will die from this madness.' She thought as she gripped onto her sword and shield tightly.

"And it won't be me!"

* * *

_Preview of the next Chapter:_

_Determined to save her friends from the terrible chimera and its minions, Nadia decides to attack the creature head on, while Razus, Mykou and Azael fight for their lives with the gargoyles. Of course, the beast isn't an easy task to kill, especially with the fact that it has already killed countless warriors before. There's no way Nadia can do this alone. It's time for the strongest attack our travellers can muster. _

_Of course, things will always come at a price..._

* * *

Aaand thus concludes this chapter, folks. Hmm, what do you think? Should Nadia save the day, or no? 

Review!!!!!!!!!! Can't say that enough...

REVIEW!!!!!

_Winter-y-ness...-ness_


	8. Asura Strike

Woot, next chapter up in less than a week! I call that an accomplishment. :)

Anyways, I noticed that I forgot to place some notes on in the last chapter, so I'll be putting it up on here at the end of the chapter like I always do. It'll be a bit of a long one, but I'm sure for all you dedicated readers (who don't review...) will be happy to know what's goin on in that little brain of mine.

Anyways, grab some popcorn and let's get this movie started!

_Disclaimer: I...DO own Ragnarok!!! MUAHAHAHAHA!! Ahem, kidding, kidding...I do not own RO, nor do I own Gravity or anything associated with it..._

Chapter Seven: Asura Strike

Nadia roared with confidence as she ran for the chimera head on, who roared at the challenge. With its great paws, it shoved her away, sending her flying to the wooden pews at the front of the grand church room. Azael saw Nadia's hit, and tried to run to her aide, only to be overwhelmed by gargoyles once more.

"Nadia!" he called as he fought off the creatures. "Hang in there!"

Coughing up blood, Nadia struggled to get up. She was badly shaken, but aside from that, there were no wounds. Luckily, her shield protected her from the chimera's attack.

Wait, where was her shield?

Looking around, she saw her shield, far away from her, beside the chimera in its dull and worn out state that it was in. With one step, the chimera broke it in two, leaving it useless for any defense.

Looking at her shield in despair, Nadia gripped onto her sword tightly as the giant beiast walked towards her, slowly anticipating the battle to come and ignoring its prey that lay beneath it; the young priestess Leah.

Razus looked on at the battle, bravely fighting his gargoyles off one by one with his good hand. It seemed that there was no way for Nadia to be able to defeat the great monster without some help.

In one quick leap, Razus bounded for the chimera, holding his shield and tightly and bracing for impact. His hit was right on target, hitting the chimera and briefly distracting it while Nadia was able to get to a better place for defense.

"Nadia! Hide!" he called to her before getting flung away by the enormous beast and its followers.

But she didn't.

Running to attack again with her sword, Nadia swung at the chimera. It was a hit.

Metal met flesh as Nadia's sword hit the chimera's shoulder. She didn't seem to faze it as it swung violently at her, its claws barely missing her body by a hair's breadth. That was when Nadia realized that the one advantage she had over the chimera was her speed and agility.

Jumping and dodging its attacks, Nadia ran wildly as the chimera chased her, growling at its agile prey. The gargoyles screeched at its master, temporarily distracted enough for the others to slash or pound them to pieces.

Mykou was the first to clear himself from the gargoyles, and he ran to help Azael and Razus with their large mobs, but Razus refused.

"We'll be fine!" shouted he in his battle of the stone creatures. "Help Nadia! I'll take care of these monsters."

Now looking at Nadia, who was still battling the great chimera, Mykou prepared for his punches on the creature, but the chimera knew what was happening.

Before the monk could land one punch on it, the chimera tackled Mykou with its great head, knocking him farther back.

"Ok, cheap shot," he said as he stood up. "Let's see how well you fare against my strongest attack!"

The chimera ignored him, however, and proceeded to chase Nadia, its claws barely snatching her cloak. It growled in frustration at her, but Nadia, as tired as she was, didn't even slow down to look around her.

Running blindly in the church, she could hear nothing but her pained gasps of air as the chimera pounded towards her with each step. She felt like she would collapse from all of the running when she heard Mykou's voice.

"Nadia, get out of the way!" he shouted.

Immediately obeying, Nadia leapt towards the closest shelter from the chimera she could get.

But she was too late.

The chimera anticipated her move, and jumped onto her body; its enormous weight falling down on her like a boulder.

Nadia felt the full weight of the beast and she fell down hard, the ground beneath her cracking under its power. She could feel her ribcage cracking, her lungs gasping for more air as the chimera stood on top of her. The chimera leaned in closer to her, breathing in her fear, tasting her pain.

Mykou could tell that this was urgent. If he doesn't act fast, Nadia will die.

Keeping his concentration on the chimera, Mykou called forth the five spirits of the elements as he held his rosary.

"Water!" he shouted, and a blue orb appeared beside him.

"Fire!" and a red one appeared.

"Metal! Wind! Earth!" He summoned all of the elements to him, increasing his energy to a power that only a monk could withstand. He could also feel his power surge through him like little bolts of lightning but he felt nothing; his body was numb from pain now.

Clenching his fist tightly, he stared down at the chimera, but it paid no attention to him. The great beast was focused on digging its jaws on Nadia, who was barely trying to defend herself with her sword. She could feel its warm breath on her as it savagely bit down on her sword, trying to reach her flesh behind it.

"Hurry Mykou!" she screamed. Her sword couldn't handle anymore. Neither can her body.

Mykou's fist was crackling with energy now. Dark shadows of lightning emanated from his brass knuckles. It was time for his ultimate attack.

Running at full speed at the beast, his fist full of power and energy to bring the monster down, Mykou unleashed his powerful attack. The chimera, hearing the monk's cries, finally let go of Nadia's sword and roared at him, daring him to attack.

And he did.

"ASURA STRIKE!"

Flying high in the air, Mykou let down his attack with no hesitation. The impact of the punch crushed the chimera and the ground below, leaving nothing but dust and debris in its wake. The sound of impact was like an explosion; it deafened both of the two crusaders that saw the battle.

As Razus and Azael looked on, they noticed that the gargoyles were retreating, going further and further back into the retreats of the shadows, finally abandoning its dead master and returning to its stone home of the church roofs. There was no one to command them now; no orders to interrupt their eternal sleep. They can finally return back to guarding their old home.

For what seemed like forever, there was silence but the crumbling of the stone floor and the dust receding. Razus, worried of what had happened to Mykou and Nadia, was the first to come to the crater that the monk created on the impact. Azael was close behind, carrying Leah on his back.

As the dust cleared and the crater can be seen more easily, Azael noticed that the crater wasn't a crater at all.

It was a hole.

"What in God's name…?" he said astonished.

Far down below the hole, there were what seemed to be various types of cages and rusty metal bars that resembled a prison, along with sharp, hooked blades hanging on the ceilings and walls. Spiked coffins lay on the floor, mossy and full of cobwebs inside. Some had rotted skeletons still inside them.

And the smell…gods, the smell of rotting flesh and bodies was pungent in the air. It was like having meat stay out in the sun for more than a month. Azael couldn't stand it; the smell was too much to bear. He had to turn his head to throw up. But the smell was still strong in the air.

Razus was dazed as he looked on at the horrific floor below him. 'What kind of a church is this?' he thought. 'Surely this has to be some kind of an illusion?'

As the two looked on, there was a faint coughing sound another floor below them as Mykou tried to push himself up from the rubble that fell on him. The Asura Strike took out almost all of his energy, draining him of his power and strength to the point where he could barely stand on his own two feet, let alone cast any healing spells on himself.

"Mykou!" shouted Azael from high up. "Are you there?"

Giving up on his attempt to stand, Mykou sat down. That was when he noticed the dead chimera under him. The beast lay there, lifeless under the rubble of rocks and stones that fell on top of it. Its three-headed snake tail were tangled together, their mouths wide open as if they were trying to scream.

This made Mykou grin. Finally, the chimera was dead! After all the challenges and gargoyles and fighting, that accursed beast was dead! He couldn't help but give a laugh at the situation then.

"Who's the top dog now?" he said, his grin now a full blown smile.

"Mykou!!" Azael called again.

"Yeah, yeah I hear you!" was the reply.

Razus relaxed after knowing his friend was ok. The worst that could happen now was that he couldn't get back up to the church room and they'll both have to go get him. But that's not going to happen. He was strong enough to get up on his own.

"Great, now get up here so we can go home," Razus said. "The chimera's dead, so our mission is done."

There was a long pause as Razus and Azael waited for Mykou to jump back up.

"Mykou?" Azael called. "Are you coming?"

"The ceiling's practically 200 feet high! What makes you think I can jump that far?" Mykou shouted. "Send me some kind of rope, or something."

"But we don't have any rope."

"Then make one."

"With what?!"

"Anything!"

"There's nothing to use for rope!"

Frustrated now, Mykou gave out an exasperated sigh. Some help those guys were.

Focusing on the two floors above him, the monk carefully focused what strength he had left to jump to the first floor. He cleared the floor around him so he would be able to get a bit of a running start to the top. That was when he noticed a dim light beside the chimera's body. Mykou edged closer to it, looking to see what it was.

It was some kind of crystal; a jewel of some kind. It was no bigger than his thumb, but it glittered brightly with a slight yellow colour.

"Mykou! Hurry up and get up here!" shouted Razus. He was getting impatient.

Quickly grabbing the strange gem, Mykou jumped to the next floor above him with ease.

"See?" said Azael. "You don't need rope. Now hurry and get up here. This place is giving me the creeps."

The next floor up, the church floor, was another 100 feet just like the last one, so reaching it wouldn't be a problem. But Mykou was already getting tired from the jump. That Strike really took a toll on him.

"Come on, Mykou," the monk murmured to himself. "You jumped one, you can do another."

Getting a running start, Mykou called on all of his strength again to reach the top. For a moment, it seemed like he would reach it, but he fell short by just an inch, and he began to fall. Luckily, Azael and Razus were there to catch him, and they both pulled him up to the floor. Mykou, tired, yet glad that he able to kill such a big monster on his own lay spread out on the floor, laughing.

'I did it,' he thought. 'I killed the monster. I even got a reward for it too.' He looked at the gem he held in his hand. It still glittered and sparkled joyfully on his palm.

"Whoa, where'd you get that?" asked Razus, looking at the beautiful jewel.

"I have no clue." He replied. "I found it beside the chimera's body. It must've belonged to it or something."

Razus examined the gem closely. "Looks like some kind of topaz. It has the same colour and everything."

"I've heard that there's this rare kind of topaz called Citrin. Think this is it?"

"Hmm…Maybe so."

Mykou grinned. Then that'll mean there's a lot of money to be earned from this. But he won't sell it; it's way too precious for that. But bragging is free, though.

"Hey, guys," said Azael, his worried face was looking down at the hole again.

Both Razus and Mykou looked up.

"What, is the chimera not dead yet?" joked Razus. "Nice going, Mykou. You didn't kill it after all."

Mykou glared at the crusader, but looked over to the hole beside Azael to see what's wrong.

Azael frowned. "No, no, it's not that." He said. "I see the chimera and everything, but…"

"But what?" asked Mykou, looking closely at the chimera, seeing if there was anything he missed.

Azael's face was grave. He was really worried as he looked at his comrades.

"Where's Nadia?"

* * *

_Preview of the next chapter:_

_They say that in order to survive in the wilderness, one must be trained to live on their own, or in some cases, separated. Of course, Nadia never really got that kind of training since she's always relied on Azael for help. Now that she's alone, will she be able to fend for herself, or will the creatures of the dark get to her first?_

_Azael, on the other hand, must follow by Razus' rules and return back to the town of Geffen, just outside of Glast Heim, to wait for Nadia there. As leading commander, Razus' rules must be obeyed. _

_But, then again, some rules are meant to be broken..._

_

* * *

_

Some Notes!!! (along with some from last chapter)

Grand Cross:I really wanted to stay true to the game without making it look too pathetically childish and cartoon-y, so (I had to make some slight changes. The casting time, I kept, though, but it was more of a visual thing in where the enemy can see the casting by looking at the large cross of seemingly harmless light. The thing I changed the most I think was the use of blood for it. I've always kept hearing that the Grand Cross was meant as a 'sacrifice' skill that'll weaken the caster. What better way to do so by draining blood? The more blood used in a grand cross will lead to more power, however too much and the person may lose control and will end up with all of their blood drained. A small cut like Razus' hand cut is just enough for battle.

Safety Wall: This was kept relatively the same, if not made better. I only made it long and more domed to be similar to the Kyrie Eleison, only stronger and...it's red.

Chain Combo: Self explanatory. A monk hits ya four times in the vital points, you're more than likely to crumble eventually. Yeah, that's the only change. I think the normal combo is three (?? tell me if I'm wrong), but I changed it to a few more to make it better. I don't think you can hit a stone creature for three times and it's gonna die. I have to make it believable!!

(this chapter...)

Asura Strike: I figured, hey, since the monk class was more asian oriented, then let's make the Asura Strike (or Guillotine Fist to some..) a bit more asian. I noticed that in order to work, you had to have 5 spirit sphere, and since the chinese elements have five elements, I figured, 'hey, let's go with that.' and so that's how you see what you see. I know, it's cheesy, but it fits perfectly. (shrug)

The Citrin: It's a chimera's drop after you've killed it in the game. Yeah, look it up. You'll see it there.

The Underground Prison: This was really bugging me because of two reasons. One, I wasn't sure if there were two floors below the church, or one, and two, the geographical map of the underground prison in Glast Heim was so messed up, I wasn't even sure if there really WAS a dungeon under it...It could've been beside it for all I knew. IT kept buggin me because if it was connected to the church, then that'll mean that underground, you'll be connected to the main castle too, along with other places as well. (are there any other places? not sure, there may be...) But if you're connected to the main castle, there'd be more than two floors underground, right? Or is there only two...perhaps three...Argh, you see what the problem is?! So I just stuck with my original plan...

Anyways, long note, and oh the suspense! I can't wait to see the next chapter too! Stay tuned next time folks, to see what'll happen to Nadia and to Azael.

Anyone noticed that Leah's been out of it for quite some time now?

_Winter-y's off!!!_

oh yeah, AND REVIEW!!!

_Winter's really off!!!!_


	9. Separation

Aha! Done the next chapter. There's a new character in this chapter and thanks to a friend of mine, the character has a name! ZOMG! Wonder if my friend'll be happy with how her character turned out in this...please don't kill me...

Anyways, onto the chapter! Don't forget to review afterwards!

_Disclaimer: I do not, repeat, do NOT own Ragnarok..._

Chapter Eight: Separation

"Nadia? Where's Nadia?" Asked Azael over and over again. He was pacing around the wide hole where Nadia was last found, his eyes constantly looking around for his friend.

"Where is she?!"

Mykou and Razus were both as worried as their younger friend, but they tried to keep calm as they could as they looked down at the hole, hoping that she wasn't crushed by the dead chimera during the attack.

Mykou was the most worried. If she really was dead, it'd be his fault. He'd be the reason why she was crushed to her death. He should've noticed that Nadia was under the chimera when he attacked.

'No,' the monk thought to himself. 'I can't think like that. She must be alive somewhere down there.'

The three continued circling the large opening when they heard a cough. Azael's heart jumped to his throat as he looked down in the darkness below. He strained his ears to hear the cough again, hoping that what he heard wasn't an illusion.

"Nadia?" he called again. "Nadia, is that you?"

But there was no answer. Was it really just a hallucination? Azael wanted to jump down right then and there, just to see if he can find her. He felt so useless on the church floor.

"Azael," Razus said after a few minutes. Azael ignored him.

"Azael, she's not there." He said again. It hurt to tell his friend that, but there was no other way to give him the news. "If she was there, she would've answered by now."

"No, no!" Azael cried. He couldn't stand the thought of hearing his friend like that. "I heard a cough. It was Nadia's cough, I'm sure of it."

Mykou frowned. The boy wasn't hallucinating, that's for sure. He heard the cough as well, but it wasn't from two floors down below. It sounded closer, like it was from behind him…

Just then, he remembered Leah. He turned and there she was, the wounded priestess, lying behind him in her own pool of blood. She was awake.

"Leah!" Mykou shouted as he ran over to her. Razus and Azael looked up from their fruitless search for Nadia as they heard her name.

Leah was as pale as stone as she opened her eyes. Nadia's temporary healing spell helped heal her wound, but by only a little. Pain shot at her side while blood dripped down her grey-blue dress as she tried to get up. But the loss of blood was too much, and she became too dizzy to even stand up before long. Her legs buckled beneath her and she fell to the ground once again.

Razus ran over to the wounded priestess, and held her head onto his lap. There was a large gash at her side, and her breathing became slow and raspy. Mykou tried to block the blood from flowing out, but the crimson liquid began to flow through his hands. There was no way to stop it from streaming out.

Azael, still at the edge of the large hole, felt like he couldn't move. A part of his mind told him to stay where he was and keep looking for Nadia, while another part of him urged him to help Leah, who was probably dying right in front of him. His common sense and normal crusader training would've told him to go and help Leah and let Nadia fend for herself, but Nadia was her friend! He couldn't do that. Not to his best friend.

So there he was, frozen in thought, as Razus and Mykou did all they could to keep Leah alive. Mykou made a temporary bandage on her large gash to stop the blood, which was going well for now, but the priestess has already lost a lot of blood and so she was still fading in and out of consciousness.

Razus looked around him as Mykou bandaged Leah's wounds. The door to the church was flat on the ground after the chimera tackled it to get in, so the opening was wide open. The battle must've been loud enough to wake up the spirits and any monster nearby, but the streets outside of the church was empty.

Razus breathed a sigh of relief. Any monster that heard them would've attacked them by now but so far, there haven't been any signs of a monster nearby at all. That has to mean that the chimera was the only thing in the whole abandoned city.

'Good,' he thought to himself. 'Then getting back won't be very difficult.'

Letting Mykou repair Leah's wounds, Razus stood up and collected his and Leah's things. Azael looked at the older crusader nervously. From where he was, he couldn't hear anything at all, but he can still see his actions.

"How long will she be able to last?" Razus asked Mykou as he placed his hand on Leah's forehead. Her skin was ice cold.

Mykou frowned. "I don't know," he replied forlornly. "Maybe a couple of days, but without the proper care, she might not even last that long. We need to get her to a doctor."

Razus nodded; his face stiff. As he looked at Leah, he knew that there wasn't a moment to lose. He _had_ to get her to safety _now_.

"Very well," he said as he proceeded to walk outside. "The city of Geffen's nearby. Not more than about a day and a half away. If we leave now and not take any rests, we might be able to get there in about a day."

Mykou nodded as he slowly propped Leah up and onto his back and began to walk outside until he saw Azael near the hole again, still staring at them, still lost in thought.

Razus, as he waited for his companion, also noticed that Azael wasn't following along. He knew that his friend was worried for Nadia, but he couldn't risk letting Leah out to die if they waited any longer.

"Azael!" he called. "We have to leave. Now!"

There was no answer.

"Azael!"

Still no answer.

Frustrated, Razus walked over to Mykou, who was waiting for Azael to come to them.

"You go on ahead," he said to the monk. "I'll take care of Azael."

"But what about your own injuries?" asked Mykou, who looked at his companion's bleeding arm. "Think you can handle the trip with that?"

Razus looked at his left arm which was trickling with blood. The pain subsided slightly, and he was already beginning to heal, but it might prove to be a problem

Although wanting to stay and help Azael look for Nadia, Mykou nodded and sprinted away, his destination, Geffen.

Seeing his friend disappear from him with the priestess, Razus then walked slowly towards Azael.

The young crusader, seeing that Leah will be going to safety now, returned to looking for Nadia once again.

Razus sighed. There's probably no way to convince the boy to stop his fruitless search for his friend. He was sure that Azael's not going to leave without a fight. Poor boy won't accept the fact that his friend might be dead.

"Azael…" Razus began, slowly walking closer to his friend. It would be a good idea not to get him agitated at the moment. That would be a long way home.

Azael paced around the large hole, contemplating whether he should jump in and search for Nadia there, or keep on calling her from above, where it's safe.

Razus was tense. If he jumped, there was no way for him to get Azael back up. Especially because of the unknown dangers lurking below, and because of his wounded arm.

"Azael, listen to me," Razus started. He was almost within reach to grab his arm now if he had to. "Remember the agreement we had back in Morocc?"

Azael stopped his pacing. Beads of sweat stuck his auburn hair to his forehead. Of course he remembered what he promised.

"We…promised…"

"Yes?"

"We…we promised that…"

"That what? We promised that what?"

"That…if one of us disappears…we…had to…leave…"

Azael couldn't bear to say it. He refused to think the worst for Nadia; that she was dead and that there was no way to bring her back. He looked down at the floor again. There _had_ to be some way that Nadia could get to safety and not get hurt. She must be hiding in that place, and he had to find her.

Razus saw it in Azael's eyes. He was going to jump. He couldn't let that happen.

In one swift movement, he unsheathed his sword and hit Azael at the back of the head with the hilt of it, knocking him unconscious. As he fell, Razus held onto him, and struggled to hold him up with his shoulders.

With a sigh, Razus slowly walked outside with Azael on him. His left arm was still hurting as it was before, but at least it stopped bleeding. He calmly collected his pack, sheathed his sword, and walked towards the safety of the city of Geffen, sadly leaving Nadia and the dead chimera behind.

--

_Hey,_

'Huh...who's there?' Thought Nadia. Her chest was sore from the pain of the chimera's weight on her and her voice was so hoarse just whispering hurt. Hell, just sitting up hurt!

_Are you ok, miss?_

"Who…" her voice cracked. "Who are you?" Nadia winced. She must've broken a lot of bones in her ribcage from the fall. Her whole body was sore from the pain and it seemed that there was no stopping it. She felt like screaming, but her voice wouldn't allow it. At least it was all over now. At least everyone will be able to help her and her injuries.

Wait…where was everyone?

Nadia looked around, but her neck wouldn't move. Every muscle in her body felt like it was torn to pieces, and every bone in her body felt as if they were broken, crushed, or both.

Soon, Nadia gave up on sitting up, or even straining her neck to look around. Instead, she just lay there, like a broken doll, staring at the ceiling. If it weren't for the fact that the strange voice was probably watching her now, Nadia would've screamed with the pain that was coming in waves in her body.

_Don't worry, miss. I'm not here to hurt you._

'Not hurt me?' Nadia almost felt like laughing. Oh, the irony! Stuck in a stinky, dark, wet place in a haunted city, and there was no one that wanted to hurt her? Hah! Nadia would've chuckled, but all that came out was a cough.

"Oh, really?" she croaked. "So you're just here to just watch me die?"

The voice seemed disappointed in the way Nadia talked to it, and after a while she thought that it might've left her.

_No, I'm not here to watch you die._

The voice sounded so innocent and sweet, like a young, naïve child who knew nothing of the evil in the world. For a moment, Nadia wanted to ask why such a young child would be hanging around in such a dark place, but all that came out were fits of coughs.

_It's ok, miss. I'll help heal your wounds._

Nadia was scared now. Just the thought of a complete stranger coming near her, doing who knows what, in a dark, musty room full of…what looks like sharp, rusty objects, wasn't something that Nadia was looking forward to.

Frantically, the crusader tried her best to wriggle away, but her body began to ache even more as she moved.

_It's ok, miss. Just stay still and I'll help you._

The voice sounded closer now, but Nadia couldn't see anything. Soon, the hairs on her back and neck stood up. Whoever it was that was talking to her was probably right over her now.

…And she still can't see anything!

"Who the hell are you?!" Nadia cried. Her body felt numb with pain now, but she didn't care. She might die soon from some…some_thing_, so there's no reason to care about the pain in her body now. Her throat was beginning to give way as she continued to shout. It hurt so much to scream.

There was no answer from the childish voice. Nadia almost felt relief, almost happy that it was gone. Perhaps the voice left, or she scared it away.

No matter, the voice was gone!

Suddenly it dawned on Nadia that now she was alone, by herself, in a dark and damp place with no light to go by and with a bunch of broken bones in her body. Now it seemed that she regretted wanting the voice to leave. Perhaps there were other sinister monsters out there besides a childish voice.

Just then, she felt what seemed like cold hands grab her neck. They were gentle on her, but the coldness from them felt like they were touched by death! The touch was freezing to the bone, and Nadia felt like screaming at the top of her lungs.

And she did.

Nadia screamed out loud at the hands grabbing her neck, although that didn't deter it from her. Nadia kept on screaming, and soon she clawed at the hands with her fingers, desperately trying to get whoever it was from strangling her. It was then she heard the childish voice again, this time right beside her ear.

_Your hands and voice seem to be working fine now._

Nadia paused. It was true! Her arms didn't feel broken anymore and she could move them without feeling any pain. Her voice, when she screamed, it didn't hurt at all! The hands were still holding onto her neck, but it never asserted any kind of pressure on her, but it just remained there.

The voice was _healing_ her.

Soon after, Nadia was fully healed from head to toe, with no signs of pain at all. Immediately, she stood up, stretching her arms and legs, moving them and making sure that she wasn't just dreaming the fact that she was healed.

_You're welcome, miss._

Nadia wanted to hug whoever it was that healed her, but as she looked around, there was nothing.

"Hey, whoever you are," she called. "Show yourself so I can thank you properly."

The voice hesitated, but complied. There was a faint glow of light in front of her and it slowly grew to show a young girl.

The girl was terribly pale and her skin seemed almost translucent. She had short, silvery hair and big blue eyes. She wore a big, light blue coat that covered her whole body to her pale knees. Underneath her coat, it seemed that she had on a pretty white dress that ended just past her knees. She had on light blue, almost white sandals and white stockings, which almost looked like it was a part of her skin, since it was so pale. She carried a worn-down teddy bear which hung limply beside her.

Nadia stood, amazed at the sight. The girl must've been 5 or 6 years old! Much too young to be hanging around in a place like this!

The girl timidly looked at Nadia, clutching her teddy bear close to her. She looked as if she was about to run away, but then Nadia remembered what she promised to the girl.

Slowly, Nadia walked towards the girl and bowed deeply in front of her, as if it was the Head Paladin in front of her.

"Thank you," she smiled to her, and the girl timidly smiled back. "What's your name, little one?"

The girl felt scared to speak, but soon she found the courage and spoke up.

"D…Dolly, miss." She said quietly. "My name is Dolly."

Nadia smiled again. "Dolly…that's such a sweet name,"

The girl's smile widened slightly, but she still held her teddy bear close as Nadia shuffled closer and kneeled in front of the girl.

"So what's a young and pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" asked Nadia. "Are you lost?"

Dolly shook her head. "I'm looking for my brother," she replied. "He got lost, and I'm trying to find him. That's when I saw you under the monster."

Nadia shivered at the thought of her under the giant chimera. "And you brought me all the way here by yourself? You must be very strong." Nadia said.

Dolly giggled. "I didn't carry you," she said. "They did." And she pointed to a large mound of slime that was hiding in a corner behind Nadia. It seemed to be wearing a white glove on its top. It looked like a giant hand full of slime trailing behind it.

"They carried you all the way here. I only followed." She said. "They were going really fast, and I almost got lost, but then they carried me here too."

Nadia looked at them, half disgusted, but glad that they saved her from absolute death.

The large, slimy gloved hands felt uneasy around the crusader, and soon they sped off, disappearing into the dark, leaving Nadia and Dolly alone.

After a pause, Nadia looked back at Dolly, whose eyes began to brim over with tears. Nadia raised her hands to wipe them away, but the girl backed away and wiped her tears with the sleeve of her coat.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Nadia asked.

Dolly sniffled. "I miss my brother." She replied. "He's been gone for so long and hasn't come back yet."

Nadia felt sorry for her and watched sadly at the girl while she continually wiped away her tears with her sleeve coat. She seemed so innocent and kind; her big blue eyes knew nothing of the cruel world around her. All she wanted was her brother.

"Tell you what," said Nadia, smiling at the girl. "As payment for helping me, I'll help you find your brother." Dolly beamed.

"For real?!" she exclaimed. "You'll help me find him?" Nadia nodded, and laughed as Dolly jumped for joy.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" she said.

Nadia smiled. "Now, let's get going. The sooner we find him, the sooner we leave this place, huh?"

And with that, the two girls walked deeper into the dark place to find Dolly's lost brother.

--

It was nighttime in the quiet city of Geffen as Azael woke up, dazed and sore from where Razus hit him with his sword. He sat in his bed for a long time, not noticing where he was, nor remembering what just happened before in Glast Heim.

He ran his hand through his ruffled auburn hair and sigh deeply. He didn't know why, but he felt so…tired and weary, as if he was an old man who's seen too much of life.

Azael chuckled to himself. 'Heh,' he thought. 'If Nadia were here, she'd—'

That was when he remembered. The trip to Morocc, the battle in Glast Heim, the fight with the chimera, Leah's injuries.

And Nadia. He left Nadia alone.

And here he was, sitting comfortably in his bed in Geffen, not doing anything to help her.

Azael frantically stood up and collected his sword and shield and ran for the door. He remembered it clearly now, before he was knocked out by Razus. The agreement everyone said before they set out for Glast Heim.

"_If one of us fails to return back, we move on."_

"We move…on." Repeated Azael. The words stung him like a needle. Why did he have to make such a stupid promise?! This anger, this frustration he felt for himself only made him run faster, though. No foolish rule or promise will stop him from saving Nadia from death.

Nothing can stop him. Not rules, not promises, not even the fact that the others might need him later. Nothing.

And as he ran past the gates of Geffen, his destination of Glast Heim, with the moon shining brightly above him with not a cloud in the sky there was only one thing that he thought of.

Nothing can stop him from saving Nadia now.

* * *

_Preview of next chapter:_

_There's something strange about the young girl, Dolly. Why is she in Glast Heim in the first place? To save her brother? Why won't her parents find him instead? It isn't safe to be hanging about in a dangerous place like this! But that was the reason why Nadia wanted to accompany her in the first place, to help her find her brother and get out of Glast Heim as soon as possible. But still...she can't help but wonder about Dolly..._

_Meanwhile in Geffen, Leah, who is fully healed and rested, sets out to find Azael, who disappeared from his room late last night. Razus and Mykou are not far behind, but the question now is if they'll be able to reach them before someone (or something) finds them first._

* * *

Some notes!:

Geffen: It's a city...for now, that's all I have and that's all you need to know. ;)

Stings: Yup, those slimy hand thingys we all know and love in the Glast Heim sewers. I LOVE their appearances because they look so nifty in their white gloves. They kinda remind me of Thing in the Addam's Family. There's not much to change or modify in their appearances as they're pretty much a just a long slime with a white glove as a head.

Dolly: Ok, I don't want to say too much about her, but I do want to say she LOVES her teddy bear. For reasons unknown for now.

That's it for now. I'm keeping a lot of secrets from you guys for now, aren't I? Stay tuned for the next chapter to see some questions answered...maybe...

OMG, Leah's awake! yay!

Anyways, review!

_Winter's gone!_


	10. Runaways

Sorry for the long wait, guys...I've had what I'd like to say an unintentional prolonged pause in the creation of the chapter, which is why it took me so long to update it...

Otherwise known as procrastination...Well, it gets the better of us all, doesn't it?

...Doesn't it?

**Disclaimer: **No, me no own RO...but i do own...(counts) three characters? Well, less than half of them, I own...

Chapter nine: Runaways

Leah woke up in a daze, feeling slightly lightheaded from the loss of blood from the fight before. Her whole body ached from movement after such a long time, but it was soon accustomed to it.

Looking around, Leah noticed that her room was small, almost like her room back at the Sanctuary when she was small, with sunshine flowing through from the light curtains on her window. It felt…homely.

'Is that it?' she thought as she slowly rose from her bed. 'Am I…home? Was everything a dream?'

Her thoughts froze when she felt a pang coming from her side. It was bandaged.

Suddenly, everything came flooding back to her. The trip to Glast Heim, the chimera and its minions, and then…

And then what?

'I…blacked out?' she thought. The scenes before she was knocked out were fuzzy, and she couldn't remember anything except that Nadia was fighting off some of the gargoyles and so was Azael.

Azael…is he ok?

Leah peeked out her window and saw the bustling of people moving about on the streets below. They looked different, somehow. There's a lot more mages and wizards moving about as well. Could there be something going on in Prontera that called upon the wizards? No, no that can't be it…

Then it hit her.

'No way!' she thought as she headed out the door. 'Am I in Geffen?!'

Leah began to panic as she rushed out of the inn she was in. It seemed that suddenly she was all alone. Not once had she noticed Nadia, Razus or even Azael here at all!

'Did they all go back to Glast Heim without me? Or maybe they just abandoned the mission? Or maybe…'

Leah shook her head. "No, it's not good to have bad thoughts." She said to herself quietly. "Bad thoughts lead to bad things."

Calming herself down, Leah thought things thoroughly in her mind, trying her best to not think of the worst.

"Alright, so I woke up in a building. Let's assume it's an inn." She said to herself, nodding. "If it's an inn, there must be someone in there who's in charge of it." With that, she smiled.

"And the person can help find the others."

Returning back inside the inn, Leah noticed that it was very small compared to what she saw outside. It was full of wildflowers in various vases that sat all over the place. The room smelled of wildflowers, too.

'Uhm, excuse me?" Leah said when she saw a young girl that was sweeping up the floor. She seemed to be holding in a smile. No doubt Leah's rush out the door gave her a bit of a laugh.

"Do you happen to know where my friends are? I need to find them."

The girl nodded and went down the hallways and to a door. She picked from her pocket an assortment of keys and unlocked the room.

"IF you need anything, please tell me." She said with a smile. Leah thanked her and the girl shuffled away and continued on with her sweeping from before.

Timidly, Leah opened the door to Azael's room. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but as long as Azael was there, things would be ok.

He wasn't.

"Azael?" asked Leah as she went into the room. The room was a mess; blankets were scattered all over the place and some of Azael's things were laid out everywhere. His sword and shield were missing, though.

'He must've left in a hurry.' Thought Leah as she looked around. 'Wonder why he would've left.' She was calmer now. At least she knew she's not alone in Geffen.

When Leah left the room, she noticed that there was _no one_ in the inn at all besides her and the young girl, who was still sweeping in the main room.

"Where is everyone?" Leah asked the girl.

The girl paused for a moment, thinking of the days before.

"You…were unconscious when you came." She said, still thinking. "A monk carried you."

'That's Mykou,' she thought.

"Is there anyone else who came?" Asked Leah as she sat down on a nearby chair. The girl thought for a longer period.

"There were two more people. They said they were friends of yours. One had an auburn coloured hair and the other…older man. I didn't catch his name. They said something about taking care of you first and then they argued about whether to save another girl or not."

'Another girl…?' thought Leah. 'Ok, so Mykou comes in, carrying me and soon after, Azael and an...older man? Razus? So they came and talked about saving another girl?'

"Did you happen to catch the name of the girl they were trying to rescue?"

The girl nodded. "I think it was Na-something…Namia?"

"Nadia?"

"That's it. Nadia!"

"So…they were talking about helping Nadia?"

The girl nodded.

Leah thought of it long and hard while the girl continued on her sweeping yet again.

"So…Nadia needs rescuing, but why would she need rescuing? She's highly trained to be able to take care of her own, so it'll have to be very dangerous for her to need help."

Leah wrinkled her forehead in thought. What could be so dangerous—

'Well duh!' she thought, mentally smacking herself for not thinking of it sooner. 'Nadia must've been trapped somehow and in a place where the guys can't get to her.' She thought to herself. 'Razus, Azael and Mykou must've been arguing about whether or not to actually go back and save her, but I was hurt, so they stayed behind and helped me until I got better. Then they went back to help Nadia now!'

Immediately, Leah thanked the girl once again and shot out the door, looking for a way to get back to Glast Heim quickly.

"There's a merchant down the street that can sell you some blue gems so you can get to places quickly if you want to!" the young girl called, pointing down the road to the merchant's place. "Tell him Alice sent you, and he'll help you no problem."

Leah couldn't help but give the girl a smile for all the help she's been.

"I promise I'll make it up to you someday, Alice." She said as she rushed down the street, but the girl shook her head.

"Just make sure your friends are ok!"

And with that, Leah was off.

--

Meanwhile, Mykou and Razus were far across town, whizzing through the bustling streets of Geffen looking for one person.

Azael.

'Geez, one person missing is enough, and now this?!' thought Mykou as he searched the streets for a familiar face. He knew something was up since that morning when he walked into Azael's room, only to find him not there.

The first thought that came to mind was that Azael left to find Nadia – he's been arguing with Razus all last night about going back to find her – but Razus refused to go back to Glast Heim to look for her. It wasn't safe to go to Glast Heim with only two people, and Leah was still unconscious from her wounds. Leaving now would mean suicide for the two of them.

After an hour of fruitless searching, Mykou decided to return back to the inn and meet Razus there later. There was no point in looking for someone in Geffen when you already _know _where he's heading.

As the monk walked off to the inn, he saw Razus, tired and exhausted from the same fruitless search for Azael. Upon seeing his companion, Razus walked with Mykou to the inn for some rest and to check up on Leah.

"Face it, Razus," Mykou sighed. "Azael is in Glast Heim looking for Nadia, doing something we should be doing now too."

Razus frowned. He knew his friend was right, but he couldn't leave Leah until he knew she was ok enough to accompany them back to Glast Heim. It's better to be safe than sorry.

As they walked back to the inn, they met up with the young girl who was still sweeping the floor of the inn.

"Hey, Alice." Said Mykou as he entered the small main room. "Has Leah woken up yet?"

Alice nodded.

"She just left to find you guys. I told her to buy some blue gems before leaving and she was off. If she comes back, I'll tell you guys." With a smile, Alice continued on her sweeping.

Razus' and Mykou's face became pale as they heard the news. Leah, after finally waking up, left to look for her missing party!

"D-did you tell her anything before she left?" asked Razus nervously.

"I did tell her that you guys were arguing about helping another friend of yours from last night." She said timidly, slightly embarrassed of revealing her eavesdropping. "When she heard that, she left immediately. I just assumed she left to find you guys. Maybe she's looking for her other friend?"

As if their faces couldn't get any whiter at the predicament, Razus and Mykou groaned at their bad luck.

"Now will we look for the others?!" exclaimed the monk. "We've already lost two people, now you want to make it three? We have to go back to Glast Heim and save the others now!"

"Glast Heim? Oh dear…" gasped Alice. "I-I didn't know that's where they were going…I'm terribly sorry."

Razus gave an exasperated sigh as he contemplated his situation. There's no doubt that Azael left to find Nadia, and Leah probably left to help look for her as well. If anything, they were both bound to search first in the abandoned church where they were before, but then where would they go? Into the hole? Perhaps…

"Mykou," Razus said after a while. "Do you still remember the warp to Glast Heim?"

Mykou nodded, and quickly pulled out a blue gem and began the spell.

In an instant, Razus got his sword and shield from his room.

"Thanks, Alice. " Razus smiled as the portal slowly formed. "For your hospitality."

Soon, both Mykou and Razus disappeared as they went into the portal, heading for Glast Heim, leaving Alice alone once again.

"Same old day as usual," she sighed as she continued on with her sweeping.

Back in Glast Heim, Nadia and Dolly are wandering around in the dark, mucky underground sewers of the abandoned town. Centuries old water lay still in the cold depths of the sewage, and the unbearable smell of rotting flesh hung in the air as the two walked along the way.

Dolly clutched her stuffed bear close, timidly looking around with her big blue eyes to look for her brother. Nadia tried her best to do the same, but there was something about Dolly that struck her as strange.

It wasn't the fact that she look slightly translucent – it could easily be just a trick of the eyes – but the fact that she was in one of the most _dangerous_ places in the world without a scratch on her did strike her as strange. And then the fact that she was able to heal others so easily...not many people outside of the Prontera Sanctuary are able to do that.

Actually, _no one's_ able to do that.

"So, Dolly," said Nadia as they walked. "What does your brother look like?"

"He's tall, with auburn hair and dark grey eyes." Dolly quickly replied. It seemed that the longer Nadia was with her, she seemed more distant. They barely talked much, and Dolly walked very quickly for a young girl. She seemed to be in an urgent mood.

'Well, of course she's in a rush!' thought Nadia. 'She's looking for her brother in a dangerous place! The faster she can find him, the faster she can get out of there.'

"Ok, so maybe if we trace back our steps to where we last saw your brother, we can start finding him there," Nadia said. "It'd be a lot faster than going around pointless like this. We could get lost."

With that, Dolly stopped in her tracks, slightly catching Nadia off-guard. She turned on her heels and face directly at Nadia, her blue eyes icy cold as they stared at her.

"We go where I want to go," She said, keeping her bear at her side. Her voice seemed slightly menacing. "And we won't get lost."

Nadia was too surprised – and slightly scared – to say anything and nodded. Soon after, the two continued going down the Glast Heim sewers as they did before, with Nadia following Dolly, who was holding her bear at her side. It seemed to just limply drag alongside her, its glass eyes staring at nothing in particular as it faced Nadia.

Wait, did that bear just grin?!

* * *

_Preview of the next chapter:_

_Azael is utterly and truly lost now...Of course, he doesn't know that...besides the fact that he risked jumping into the large, gaping hole in the Glast Heim church to find Nadia, only to find nothing, and the fact that there's no one to help him on his search and that he's completely alone, Azael has no clue that he's lost._

_Of course, that may be because of the fact that about a hundred undead zombies and skeletons are out to get him!_

Whee!! Did you guys figure out about Dolly's secret yet? If so, don 't tell anyone...it's meant to give some suspense

Oh yeah, and yes. Alice is the monster Alice on RO. What could've given it away? perhaps the excessive use of sweeping?

Oh yay! So now it's a full chase line! Razus and Mykou are looking for Leah, who's looking for Azael, who's looking for Nadia, who's with a strange girl who's looking for her brother! Whatever will happen next?! Check out next chapter to find out!


	11. The Neverending Fight

* * *

Sooooo sorry it took me so long to update it. Playing RO has its perks but also may sometimes have it's downfalls...Like forgetting to update your story time and time again...

ANYWAYS, I owe you guys a lot for sticking to me up to now, and hope you still do in the future because it just got a little more interesting! Hope this works...

Enjoy!

_Disclaimer: I do not own RO or any of the sort...They belong to Gravity. Sigh..._

* * *

Chapter Ten: Never ending Fight

Glast Heim seemed to be haunted and darker then ever as Azael passed its walls again for the second time in search for Nadia. The seemingly endless mist seemed thicker to the point where he couldn't see anything within a few feet from him, and the dead silence made everything seem more eerie than before.

Slowly and carefully he walked, making sure not to make a sound and provoke the abandoned town's inhabitants to attack him. He didn't want another powerful monster to attack him. Especially when he's all alone.

Azael looked around to see if there were any signs of where the large church was, but to no avail. The mist seemed to block everything around him; it was so thick now that he couldn't see his own hand in front of him. It was proving to be very troublesome.

There was a low rumble beneath the wet cement ground. Quickly, Azael pulled out his sword and looked around, listening intently on where the sound came from, half hoping that Nadia might be just around the corner.

Silence.

'Must've been my imagination.' Thought Azael as he sheathed his sword and continued searching.

It felt as if he was searching in a cloud; it was so damp, but nothing else. There seemed to be no walls, no stairs, no fallen columns or creepy looking statues as it did before when he came. Just…a never ending mist. He could've been walking around in circles and he would've never known.

It seemed as if the abandoned city itself didn't want him to escape. Hours passed, and there was still no sign of Nadia or anything, _anything_ at all around him. He wanted to just yell out her name, but he knew that if he did that, then that will provoke the monsters around him. And he's already had his fill of monsters for the day.

There was another low rumble. Azael could hear it clearly now; it was somewhere behind him. It wasn't like the chimera's low growl, but it certainly sounded big. He quickly pulled out his sword and shield and braced himself for any attack. The low rumbling sound started getting louder.

Which meant it was getting closer…

Oh, shi—

There was no way for Azael to fight something as big as what he saw behind him at that moment. Mounted on a great horse of pure ebony black and armour that looked like it was made of steel and onyx, the final knight cursed with the purpose of protecting the city of Glast Heim stood out majestically before him.

The great Abysmal Knight.

There was no way for Azael to take _him_ on alone.

With a great wave of his sword, the knight thrust it down on Azael, who jumped out of the way just in time.

He had to get out of the Knight's way before he'll be cut in half by its large sword. Not to mention the dark shadows that hid behind the large Knight—its minions, large bodies of empty armour called Khalitzburgs that were also not meant to be dealt with alone.

Not even bothering to look behind him now, Azael turned and ran blindly through the thick mist. For the first time, he thanked the gods for the haze and how it would act as his cover from the great beast of a monster.

Even though the Knight had a large horse that could easily outrun Azael in a heartbeat, it walked extremely slow. Slow enough for Azael to get away.

Blindly and quickly he ran, not even pausing to see if the Knight was following him, or even to know where he was going. He just continued running and running until he began to run out of breath. Eventually, he slowed down to a stop when he noticed that Knight was no longer following him.

That was when he noticed something different…

He was going up.

Stairs. Azael was on a stairway in the mist. To him, it seemed like he was walking on the stairway to heaven had he not known any better. It felt like he was ascending to the Gods themselves. It seemed oddly refreshing.

Azael breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe for now, but not yet in the clear. He still had to find Nadia, and she was bound to be much farther away than what he thought.

As he headed up the stairs, the mist began to slowly give way and he can start to see the faint outlines of a large castle and the large bronze door in front.

Just then, Azael froze in his place. This was the exact same thing that happened just before he encountered the terrifying chimera. What if there was another monster just like it behind _these_ doors? If there were, he would never find Nadia and he'll be condemned to an eternity lost in the mist.

Observing his actions, Azael pondered what to do next. If he were to go back down the stairs, he would risk meeting up with the Abysmal Knight or his minions again, and that was something he did not want to fight. But there might be another even stronger monster behind those closed doors.

'Ah, what to do now?!' he thought inside his head. There seemed to be no safe way out of this one, that's for sure. Azael put his ear on the door, trying with all his might to hear anything behind it.

Nothing.

'Well, if there's no sound, then there's got to be nothing behind it.' He thought as he slowly opened the door.

'Gods, I hope I'm right.'

The first room that Azael entered into was the main castle room. The large, dark room was empty, save for the dusty, abandoned furniture and books that lay scattered in desks and on bookshelves, untouched for hundreds of years.

Well, it certainly _seemed_ empty, but things can be deceiving in Glast Heim.

"Nadia!" Azael cried. "Nadia, are you there? Answer me if you can hear me!"

There was no answer.

'She's not here,' he thought. Figures.

Cautiously, he walked down the large halls of the empty castle. Large statues of warriors in the past lined the hallways with armour that had once seen hundreds of fights now covered in dust and rusted away all of the sheen it once had. Had Azael not had a mission to do, he would've spent hours just staring at them, admiring the work and miniscule detail of each and every one of the warriors.

Just then, there was a loud, screeching sound of metal against metal far off in one of the hallways. The sound pierced Azael's ears, who have barely heard anything since he has gotten inside the castle. Immediately, he covered his ears, trying to bear through the long noise as well as he can. But in his distraction, he didn't notice the statues around him.

They were moving.

The metallic rust of the armour as it moved made the deafening sound that echoed through the walls of the grand castle. While it is true that statues could not move as they were merely rock, the armour contained the lost souls of the warriors who wore them. And they longed for a fight.

'Raydrics,' he thought to himself. He had heard of these possessed armours before during training as a crusader. Great agony and anger led to their souls being trapped into their armour, and so they are condemned to an eternity of ceaseless fighting as if they were still alive.

There was no way out. Azael was trapped. The bodies of armour seemed to form themselves around him. Their weapons were ready for an attack. Their years of experience were bound to surpass his own. This may be the end.

In an instant, one of them attacked Azael, who jumped out the way just in time. Suddenly, another swung its sword at him, and this time, he couldn't avoid it. Quickly, he held up his shield in defense. The sword fell heavily on it, but Azael held his ground.

There was no way to run from them now, he had no choice but to fight now.

There was a monster by his left side, ready to swing its weapon at him. Swiftly, Azael swung his sword at it. Both weapons clashed and it reverberated throughout the castle walls. The sound shook everything, including Azael. It caught him so off guard, he barely had enough time to react when the raydrics attacked.

They all jumped in at once, slashing at the young crusader and dodging any attempted attacks from him. They moved as if with one mind, working as a team to take down Azael, but he refused to be taken down so easily. One raydric swung its sword heavily at him, to which he deflected with his shield, while another behind him swung again, slashing his right side.

Crimson blood started to flow from the gash and the pain started to settle in, but Azael continued to fight. He had to stay alive if he wanted to find Nadia.

In an attempt to stop them from attacking him all at once, Azael let the tip of his sword fall to the hard ground and dragged it all around him. At once, sparks began to fly from the metal as he continued turning.

"Magnum break!" he shouted, and the sparks flew to flames, drawing the raydrics away to avoid the heat. But they soon recovered from the encounter.

'There's too many of them,' he thought as he looked around him, trying to find an opening so he can escape. The raydrics began to close in on him again, and this time, they were more than angry after that last attack.

Azael began to panic. There was no way out. He was going to die here and spend the rest of eternity as an empty armour, nothing more than a vengeful spirit who couldn't find the one person he came to look for. Another raydric.

Suddenly, he had an idea. It seemed so obvious, he nearly cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner. He looked around him and saw that the raydrics were eagerly coming closer to him, anticipating their next attack to take him down quickly and painfully.

Azael smiled. There was only one crusader skill that was meant to take down many undead opponents like raydrics. A holy skill meant only as a last resort and should never be used lightly.

The Grand Cross.

Of course, Azael never had any formal training of this skill, and so it was highly weak compared to other higher ranking Crusaders, but he had learned it from his best friend Razus, so he had some understanding of it.

There was no time to second guess himself now, as the raydrics began their attack. Azael quickly took his sword, and slashed himself on the hand, letting the blood flow onto his blade, and freely from his hand. He then thrust it hard into the ground, with the blood dripping down from it into the ground in the shape of a cross.

The crimson liquid then began to spread underneath the raydrics and started to glow dimly with light. The group of armours stopped in their tracks, curious as to see what was happening with the red light beneath them.

Azael squeezed the hilt of his sword with his slashed hand. More blood began to flow and the light grew stronger. When he finally thought that it was enough, he let out a great cry.

"Grand Cross!"

The crimson light suddenly turned to a blinding holy white light, which shone through the raydrics, destroying them in pulses of light. Azael continued to hold onto his sword, allowing the light to feed on his blood to power the Grand Cross.

Every pulse the light gave off, it took more of Azael's blood and energy. He tried his best to hang on until the last of the raydrics were gone, but it took a toll on his body. Before long, every raydric within the room were dead, and Azael collapsed to the ground, his body weak from the attack.

He had lost a lot of blood from the Grand Cross, but the slash from his hand was healed now, and no longer bleeding. The gash from his right side, however, was not healed, and so blood continued to flow from him, making him feel even more exhausted and weak.

His vision began to blur and his body refused to get up from the ground—there was no energy left in him to get up anymore. It seemed that, ironically, he tried to defend himself from getting killed, but he might die nonetheless from his own attack.

Just then, he heard a clatter. Azael moaned. There can't be more raydrics here, can there?

'For God's sakes, let me die in peace…'

Exhausted and still bleeding, Azael dragged himself into a corner and sat there quietly. He knew that if there would be any more enemies around, they would probably be able to follow the trail of blood to where he was hiding, but at least it was better than being seen out in the open.

There he sat, very still and very quiet. He heard a cough, one that sounded from some old man. Azael was puzzled by this, but he still remained quiet. It could easily be a trap.

The cough got louder as the mystery person got closer. Azael anticipated for the attack and braced himself for any battles.

He didn't have to.

It was a sageworm.

Frail and sickly, the sageworm hobbled up and down the hallway, fixing the damaged carpets and cleaned up the rubble that was on the floor during the battle. It didn't seem that it noticed Azael at all. Probably because of its poor eyesight.

Azael calmed down when he saw the old looking worm. It was of no threat to him, and so he stayed there, willing to rest for a while before continuing on. He held his sword and shield close to him and closed his eyes to collect his thoughts.

Before long, the ground below him; what was thought to be hard concrete, suddenly collapsed below him, crumbling almost into dust and letting Azael fall through the large hole created, and into the dark abyss below.

* * *

Far away, in a large turret that loomed above Glast Heim, a dark figure stood, watching all of the activities from above. His large black hat was torn and faded through the times, and his crimson red robe flowed out from beneath him. His face was disfigured and scarred and sickly pale, and his dark red eyes gleamed sinisterly at the actions going on in the large abandoned castle.

Just then, a small white rat scurried up behind him, nudging his leg.

"_What is it, Cramp?" _he said sourly, annoyed that his watching was interrupted.

The rat squeaked, and held out a blue fabric that seemed torn.

"_Excellent, the plan is going smoothly,"_ he smiled, showing all of his horrid yellow rotting teeth. _"Send Carat to find him and make sure he dies before nightfall. I don't want anybody ruining my sacrifice for tonight."_

The white rat nodded and scurried away again.

Knowing that he was alone again, the dark figure held out his hand and conjured up a small glowing orb. It showed Nadia's tired looking exhausted face who was still looking for Dolly's missing brother.

"_My sweet sacrifice,"_ He said, chuckling quietly. _"We will meet soon. And you will grant me freedom from this place."_

Then, the orb changed to show Azael's wounded face, unconscious from the fall.

"_As for you, boy."_ He grinned. _"You will learn to regret trespassing through my gates."_

And he laughed, with the sound bellowing out from below him, and echoed throughout Glast Heim and rumbled through the hallways and walls of the castle, causing more and more rocks to fall and crumble and turn almost to dust.

"_No one escapes from the Evil Druid alive!"_

* * *

_Preview of Next Chapter:_

_Nadia is still looking for Dolly's lost brother, who's supposedly in Glast Heim, but there's something about the pale, blue eyed girl that just urks her the wrong way. And now she's curious to find out as to why the young girl seems to have no trouble at all on her own in the large haunted place...Something's just not right here..._

_Azael, on the other hand, has his hands full now as the confusing and menacing Carat jumps into the fray from the Evil Druid's command. What could be his motive for all of this, and could Dolly have some part in this?_

_Meanwhile, Leah, Mykou and Razus have been having touble findng eachother and in their troubles, unknowingly end up finding someone they didn't intend to find..._

_Dolly's brother._

* * *

Ooooh, and the plot thickens...perhaps I should stop it right there for another few months to keep you in suspense. Unless, of course, I get a lot of reviews. Then I'll update as soon as possible.

...But that's ONLY if you review!

_Winter's away! _


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